Pokemon: Champion of champions
by I'maChair5050
Summary: After running away from home to avoid being married to a girl he doesn't want to marry, Ryan and his Squirtle embark on their own Pokemon journey in the Unova region. Thankfully for them, they find help in the unlikely form of a champion from another region. Contains Violence, suggestive material and Pokeshipping.
1. And so, our story begins

**Chapter 1: And so, our story begins...**

it was 6 o clock on a warm August morning. The sun was shining brightly over the Unova region. Bird type Pokémon flew overhead, whilst various other types roamed around forest, grazing on berry bushes.

Whilst most people would be asleep at this time, Ryan was already up and raring to go.

Usually, he himself would be fast asleep at this time.

Not today, however. For today was his 14th birthday.

Today was the day that he would get a Pokémon.

* * *

Ever since he was a little kid, Ryan had dreamed of going on a Pokémon journey around the world. Every night, he dreamt of going to different places and seeing amazing new Pokémon.

But most of all, he dreamt of challenging Leagues all around the world and becoming a Pokémon champion.

Whilst most kids left on their journey when they were at least ten years old, Ryan's dad had strictly told him that he wouldn't be allowed to go on a Pokémon journey until he was 18, so as to make sure that Ryan didn't make as many silly mistakes.

However, he was allowed to have a Pokémon before then.

Ryan's family was very rich. In fact, it was one of the richest families in the world, let alone the Unova region. Ryan's mother and father were the proud owners of Silph co., Goldenrod Radio and Jubilife TV. A few months ago, they'd finished moving into a massive mansion, not too far from Floccesy town.

In the few days leading up to his birthday, Ryan had been busy deciding which Pokémon he wanted.

He eventually came up with a list of Pokémon he liked the look of.

Cyndaquil was tempting.

Treecko sounded like a good deal too.

In fact, so did Turtwig and tepig.

However, he eventually came down to one decision.

He wanted a Squirtle.

* * *

A knock was heard at Ryan's bedroom door.

As he opened it, he found Alexander, the house butler, standing before him.

"Ah! Good Morning Master Ryan." He said, bowing. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, Alexander. Thank you". Ryan replied.

"I've just come as your wake up call to let you know that your mother and father are waiting downstairs in the living room for you".

"Great! Thanks Alexander". Ryan finished replied before dashing downstairs and into the living room, where he was greeted by his parents.

"Happy Birthday!" They both said to him as they embraced him.

"Thank you" Ryan replied, ecstatically.

They then broke the hug.

"Now Ryan, before you get your presents, I'd like to introduce you to someone." his mother said, motioning towards the couch.

To Ryan's surprise, professor Cedric Juniper was sitting before him.

"Hello there Ryan", Said the professor enthusiastically, getting off the couch and shaking Ryan's hand "Happy birthday."

"Hello to you too, professor" Replied Ryan. "And thank you".

"Professor Juniper's come here to deliver you your new Pokémon". Said Ryan's mother.

"Indeed I have." The professor told Ryan. "But first, I need to have a little chat with you."

"I'm all ears, professor". Replied Ryan eagerly.

The Professor nodded.

"Your father has told me that when you eventually leave on your Pokémon journey, the one thing that you'd like to do is to take on the different Pokémon gyms and leagues all around the world. Is this true?"

"Oh yes. Definitely".

"I thought so. Apparently, you've also been watching an awful lot of these gym and league matches on the television. Well, I've been in contact with the very professors who gave those trainers their first Pokémon and they've all said the same thing about each one. They've said that they work hard and never give up. But most importantly, they've always cared for and loved each and every Pokémon that they've caught. With that, they're bonds grew stronger and they were able to persevere, not matter what the challenge."

He placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Now I want you to promise me that no matter what happens from now, you will care for your Pokémon and never give up on them."

Ryan nodded.

"I promise".

Cedric smiled.

"Right answer!" He declared.

The professor then reached under the coffee table and produced a box.

"Go ahead and open it" said the professor.

Ryan slowly opened the box, revealing the Pokémon inside.

"Squirtle!" It said happily, looking up at Ryan with a happy look on its face.

Elated, Ryan lifted the Squirtle out of the box and hugged it.

"Aww." Ryan's mum cooed. "Those two look so great together".

"This is the best day ever!" Ryan said, happily. "Thank you everyone".

"Oh yes!" professor Juniper declared. "There's one more thing I want to give you".

The Professor then reached into his pocket and produced a pokedex.

"A little something extra to help you along your journey in the future". He said, handing it to Ryan.

"Sweet! Thank you." replied Ryan, now even more ecstatic.

"Well, I've got to be off". The professor told them. "I've got things to do and people to meet".

"Thank you for everything". Ryan's father told him.

"I'll be expecting to see you battling the Unova league in a few years too". Cedric told Ryan shaking his hand.

"Thank you professor". Ryan replied.

"Farewell". He told them as he walked out the front door.

As Ryan continued hugging his Squirtle, an idea came to him.

He then put Squirtle down, turned on his pokedex and scanned his new best friend.

_Squirtle_

_The Tiny Turtle Pokemon_

_It shelters itself in its shell, then strikes back with spouts of water at every opportunity._

_Level 5_

_Known Moves: Tackle and Tail whip_

_Special Ability: Torrent_

Ryan squealed with excitement.

"I'm so excited!" He yelled. "This makes me want to go on a journey even more".

"Not just yet champ". His father told him, chuckling. "Besides, you've still got some presents to open".

He motioned to the large pile of presents in the corner of the room.

"Are you ready Squirtle?" Ryan asked his new best friend.

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle said.

"Well then, let's go!" Ryan yelled as he and Squirtle rushed the large present pile.

* * *

As Ryan and Squirtle peered out over the window ledge, the sound of music filled the air.

It had been over 3 years since Ryan and Squirtle had met and Ryan's 18th birthday and the beginning of his Pokémon journey were just 2 months away.

A lot had happened to the world during those 3 years. A Red Gyrados had been spotted at the Lake of Rage in the Johto region, Team Galactic had been thwarted in the Sinnoh region and Team Plasma had been defeated (twice).

However, nothing really significant had happened to Ryan in those few years.

In fact, the most significant thing that had happened was Squirtle reaching Level 7 from defeating any wild Pokémon that invaded the premises and subsequently learning Bubble.

Today, however, Ryan's parents were holding a special get-together for various family friends, complete with banquet and ball.

Unfortunately, Ryan wasn't very good at socialising with people. In fact, he was always uncomfortable with being in a room with lots of people, particularly some of the women, who where constantly fussing over him and Squirtle.

"Don't they look lovely?" They'd cooed.

As they looked out over the horizon, Squirtle was grumbling to himself.

"Don't worry buddy". Ryan said, rubbing Squirtle's head. "We'll be on our journey in two months, anyway. Just try and hold on till then, okay?"

"Squirtle". His friend muttered, obviously tired.

"I know. I'm tired too." Ryan told him. "I'd better put you to bed".

As Ryan clutched Squirtle close to his chest, he started heading back inside to tell his parents that Squirtle needed to rest.

However, as he started to head inside, he stopped as he noticed a girl standing on the other end of the balcony, looking at him.

The girl in question was a beautiful young girl, around the same age as Ryan. She had dark green eyes and long, flowing black hair. She was wearing a dark red formal gown and matching shoes. She was being followed around by a Vulpix, presumably her own.

Ryan felt his face begin to heat up.

"Hi there". Ryan said nervously. "Who might you be?"

"You know, it's not polite to ask a lady her name without introducing herself first". She replied.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm Ryan". He told her.

"Lucy. Pleasure to meet you".

"Squirtle" Ryan's buddy murmured, sleepily withdrawing into his shell.

"Sorry, Lucy. I'd love to hang around, but Squirtle's getting a bit tired". Ryan told her.

"As they do". Lucy told him, giving a small giggle. "Bye".

"Yes. Goodbye" Ryan said before heading inside.

"Mom, dad, Squirtle's getting sleepy. I'm going to put him to bed now". Ryan said, walking up to his parents.

This was greeted by more affectionate coos from the women.

"Okay then son". His dad said before heading off and chatting with some of his workmates.

"See you in the morning Squirtle". His mom said before heading off with some of her friends.

Wearily, Ryan walked upstairs, carrying Squirtle in his arms.

As he reached his room, Ryan gently placed Squirtle on his pillow.

However, as Ryan opened the door to head back downstairs, he found a Vulpix sitting in front of him.

Lucy soon arrived at the top of the stairs.

"There you are Vulpix", picking the Pokémon up. "I was getting worried about you".

Then she noticed Ryan.

"Oh. Hello Ryan". She said to him.

Ryan felt his face begin to heat up again.

"Hello Lucy". He replied.

"Just to let you know, everyone's heading home now" She told him.

"Ah. Well I hope you and your parents have had a good night and I hope you have a safe journey home". Ryan said politely.

Lucy smiled.

"We've had a great night. Thank you".

She turned to leave.

"Goodbye Ryan". She said.

"Goodbye Lucy". He replied.

As she walked back down the stairs with her Vulpix, Ryan just stared at her, completely entranced by her.

"If only I'd spent more time talking to her" Ryan thought to himself.

* * *

On the morning after, Ryan and Squirtle were awoken by a knock at his bedroom door.

"Come in" Ryan called, only half awake.

The door opened and Ryan's dad stepped in.

"Good morning Ryan" he said brightly. "Have a good sleep?"

"Yeah. Fine thanks" Replied Ryan.

Ryan's dad then sat down on the bed, next to Ryan.

"So why are you waking me up today? Usually you'd get Alexander to wake me up" Ryan asked.

"Well, I've come to talk to you about the little agreement we made two years ago". His dad replied.

Ryan had to rack his brains for a few seconds before eventually remembering what dad was talking about.

"You do remember the agreement, right?" Asked his dad.

"Of course I remember" Ryan replied. "The one where I have to get married before I head out on my Pokémon journey so I can have a secure future. How could I forget?"

"Good. You remember. Well then, I've just come here to say that your mother and I have found the perfect girl for you". Ryan's dad replied, ecstatically.

"Really? Who might the girl be?" Asked Ryan.

"I'm going to leave that to you to find out". Replied his dad. "However, I will tell you that the girl in question is coming over tonight to meet you".

"Okay. Thanks dad". Replied Ryan.

As Ryan's dad left for breakfast, Ryan thought about this for a minute.

I sure hope this girl is nice, Squirtle" he said to his buddy.

* * *

As the night rolled in, Ryan anxiously awaited for the arrival of his new fiancé.

He had pulled on his smartest clothes and spent ages sorting out his hair, just to impress her.

He stood on the staircase, looking at the door and waiting.

Just then, the door opened.

"The girl is here" Declared Alexander as he led her in.

Ryan looked at the girl.

And Lucy looked back.

The two stared in wonderment of a few moments.

"Um...hello Lucy" Ryan finally managed to say.

"Hello Ryan" she replied.

"Ah! Lucy! Lovely to see you!" Ryan's mother said, appearing from the living room.

"Thank you for inviting me, ma'am" Lucy replied.

"Well then, I bet you two have got lots to talk about" Ryan's mum told them.

She turned to Ryan.

"How about you take your new fiancé out to the garden, so you can have some alone time". She told them.

With that, the two teenagers walked out the back door and into the estate grounds.

"Well, this is...strange". Lucy said as stood out in the open, watching the stars.

"You can say that again" Ryan replied.

He turned to face her.

"You know, I wish we could've had more time to chat last night" Ryan told her "We could've had such a good time together".

"I know, Ryan" Lucy told him. "But that's all in the past and right now, we need to look towards to future".

She looked down to notice that Ryan's hands were shaking slightly.

She took his hands into hers, causing Ryan to start blushing.

"To confess, I'm excited for the wedding" Ryan said. "But I'm also a bit nervous as well".

"I'm kind of nervous as well" replied Lucy.

It was at this moment that the two began gazing directly into each others eyes.

After a few minutes of being entranced by the deep look in each others eyes, Lucy slowly leaned in and planted a kiss on Ryan's lips, causing Ryan to blush even more.

Whilst he was indeed shocked at first, he decided to go with it and returned the kiss.

"This is brilliant!" Ryan thought to himself. "I sure as hell hope this thing ends well".

* * *

Unfortunately for Ryan, things didn't go well for him.

To Lucy, things were going brilliantly. But for Ryan, things were far from perfect in his relationship.

After it had been announced that he and Lucy were getting married, he'd been receiving all sorts of unwanted attention from people.

"They'd make such a perfect couple" they all said.

They were also being bombarded by hundreds of random and, to Ryan, pointless marriage presents.

Their parents had even organised for the whole thing to be broadcast on national TV.

But by far, the biggest problem for Ryan at this time was Lucy herself.

In the days after the announcement of their wedding, Lucy had begun to change.

She gradually became more controlling and more possessing, expecting Ryan to behave like a "true" gentleman.

But worst of all, she would rarely let Ryan do his own thing and constantly drag him to things that she wanted to do.

But what really got Ryan to think about things was what she'd said about his Squirtle.

"I don't like Squirtles" she'd said. "To be honest, you should get rid of yours and get a Piplup instead".

So now, Ryan was sitting on the end of his bed, on the eve of his wedding day, nervously shaking his leg in a deep thought session in his Pyjamas.

"I can't go through with this" Ryan thought to himself. "I don't want to lose Squirtle. To be honest, the way she keeps demanding things out of me, I'll die before even reach 18".

Then, an idea came to him.

"Would I seriously do that to keep my best friend?" He asked himself.

He though about this for a few moments.

"Very well then" He said to himself quietly.

Ryan then stood up, went over to his wardrobe and pulled out his own backpack from within.

Setting the bag on his desk, he began to fill it with things that he would need: a sleeping bag, a spare set of clothes with multiple spare underpants, some money and

He then changed out of his Pyjamas and into his casual clothes: a black T-shirt, a dark green jacket, denim jeans and a light grey, red and white trainer's cap.

As Ryan pulled on his chunky black running trainers, Squirtle (who had been asleep on his pillow), began to slowly stir, poking out of his shell.

"Hey buddy" Ryan whispered to him, tucking his pokedex into one of his zip-up pockets.

"Squirt?" His friend said.

Ryan went over to his friend and gently lifted him up.

"Squirtle, I'm not going to lose you because of that stuck up brat". Ryan whispered to him. "So tonight, we're heading off on our own Pokémon adventure. I know you've always wanted to go on an adventure, so now is the time. Are you up for it?"

"Squirtle!" The turtle Pokémon cheered, before Ryan placed a finger on his lips.

"I thought you'd say that" he whispered. "But right now, we've got to be quiet".

Ryan hoisted his bag onto his back, picked up his partner and silently snuck out of his bedroom, careful not to wake his parents or Alexander.

Ryan proceeded to slowly sneak downstairs and up to the front door, where he slowly and carefully opened it, stepped through and shut it again, still carrying Squirtle.

"Okay buddy. Now we're almost there". He whispered to him as he began to sneak down the long driveway, towards the gate.

As they got further away from the house, Ryan picked up the pace and broke into a silent walk. He proceeded to get faster and faster, before he found himself sprinting towards the gate.

Thankfully for him, he was able to gently remove the gate lock, open the gate, step through and shut the gate again.

He then sprinted on a little further before diving into the undergrowth.

"Well Squirtle" he said, looking back at his home. "It's just you and me from now on".

"Sewaddle!" Came the cry of a Pokémon from somewhere within the forest.

The two looked around to discover that a sewaddle was sitting on a tree branch, staring angrily at them.

As they looked around, they noticed even more angry Sewaddle looking at them.

Then, suddenly, the whole group of them unleashed string shot on the two, covering them lots of thin silk.

Knowing that things weren't looking good, Ryan broke out of the string and dashed away with Squirtle, whilst the Sewaddle began to chase after them.

As they dashed onwards, more and more Sewaddle began to chase after them, screeching angrily.

After a short distance of running Ryan and Squirtle turned to face them.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." Ryan said. "**Squirtle! Use Bubble!**"

Squirtle began to shoot countless bubbles at the Sewaddle army.

Squirtle did well to hold his own, easily knocking a few out, but he was soon overwhelmed by the countless Sewaddle and, to Ryan's horror, knocked out from their Tackle attack.

As Ryan scooped up his unconscious partner, he continued to run.

However, as he ran, the Sewaddle continued to give chase, continually shooting him with String Shot.

Ryan could easily shake a few of them off, but the gradually built up, until Ryan couldn't tear the string off.

The string was also seriously sapping his strength as well.

Eventually, Ryan lost all of his strength from running (or at this point, hopping) away from the Sewaddle and fell to the ground, still clutching Squirtle.

As the Sewaddle drew closer, Ryan felt himself become very light headed.

Just then, however, he heard the sound of running footsteps getting closer to him.

Then he heard the sound of two pokeballs being opened, followed by two voices.

"**Sceptile! Leaf Storm!**"

"**Blaziken! Flare Blitz!**"

As Ryan watched, hundreds of flying leaves and small fireballs flew at the Sewaddle, driving back into the forest.

As Ryan began to black out, he could vaguely make out four pairs of eyes looking down at him.

Two Humans. Two Pokémon.

The last thing Ryan heard before blacking out was a voice.

"These guys don't look too good. We'd better take them to the Pokémon centre..."


	2. The Hoenn Champion (and his girlfriend)

**Chapter 2: The Hoenn Champion (and his girlfriend)**

Ryan felt like he'd been punched in the face.

As he eventually came round, he sat up, rubbing his face.

"Where am I?" He mumbled.

As he looked around, he soon realised that he was in a bed in a pokemon centre, most likely in Floccesy town.

There was only one other person in the room with him: a girl was sitting on the bed opposite him, staring at the screen on her laptop. She was wearing black shorts and an orange-red sleeveless top, complete with a green bandana on her head.

She looked up from her laptop to notice Ryan.

"Ah, you're awake" she said as she got off the bed and went over to him.

"How did I get here?" Ryan asked, still dazed.

"Well, my boyfriend and I found you under attack from a group of Sewaddle, so we drove them away and took you and your Squirtle here" she told him.

Ryan then realised something: Squirtle wasn't in the room with them.

"Wait, where's my buddy?" Ryan asked, looking around and getting increasingly worried.

"Don't worry" the girl told him reassuringly "My boyfriend's taken him to get checked out by the nurses here".

She held out her hand.

"I'm May"

Ryan shook her hand.

"I'm Ryan. Glad to meet you".

Just then, the door opened.

In walked a boy, roughly the same age as May, being tailed by a Squirtle.

Ryan instantly recognised the Squirtle as his own.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle yelled as he ran up to Ryan.

"Squirtle! Thank god you're alright!" Cried Ryan as he scooped up his friend and hugged him tightly.

However, as he looked over at the boy who'd brought Squirtle in, his jaw dropped.

The boy in question was a little bit older and taller than him.

He was wearing a red and black jacket, black trousers and red, green and black trainers, complete with a green bag on his back, green headband and a white knit cap.

"I KNOW YOU!" Ryan screamed with excitement, almost dropping Squirtle. "I WAS THERE TO SEE YOU DEFEAT THE HOENN LEAGUE A FEW YEARS AGO!"

"Ah, so you remember me." The boy replied happily, holding out his hand. "Brendan."

Ryan gripped Brendan's hand and shook it madly.

"Ryan!" He replied, still fanboying all over the place.

After a short while fanboying, Brendan and May managed to calm Ryan down.

"So what exactly are you two doing out here in the Unova region?" Asked Ryan.

"Well, Brendan and I were feeling a bit deflated, so we decided to take a trip here to see the sight and the Pokémon" Replied May.

"I think the better question here would be why we found you and your Squirtle being attacked from Sewaddle during the middle of the night" Inquired Brendan.

"Well, I'd better start from the beginning" Ryan told them, sighing.

"To start off with, I wasn't allowed to go on my Pokémon journey when I turned 10. In fact, my parents told me that I couldn't go until I'd turned 18, so as to ensure that I wouldn't make many silly mistakes. However though, I was allowed to get my starter Pokémon before then and I received Squirtle on the 14th birthday. However though, what set the ball in motion for this chain of events to happen is when I agreed with my dad that I would get married before heading off on my Pokémon journey, so as to secure my future".

"Sounds more like him just trying to secure more money" May said, disgusted.

"Too right" Ryan replied. "Anyway, I couldn't pick the girl I wanted to marry. Instead, I had to marry the girl that my parents picked out for me: a girl called Lucy. To begin with, she was a fairly nice girl. However, after our wedding was announced, she became more controlling and possessive. But worst of all, she demanded that I get rid of Squirtle in favour of a piplup".

"What a stuck up brat!" Brendan declared.

"Didn't your parents do anything about this?" Asked May.

"I tried to talk some sense into my parents, but there was no persuading them. So, I had to resort to one of my most extreme options: run away on the eve of my wedding and start my Pokémon adventure early".

"How awful" Brendan remarked.

"Well, with that out of the way, I presume the next step for you would be to take on the Pokémon gyms" May said.

"Yes" Replied Ryan

"And take on the Unova league"

"Too right"

"Well, how about we come with?" Asked Brendan "We'd love to see the sights and we could also help you along on your journey".

"I don't see why not" Ryan said happily.

"Very well then. May, where are we heading first?" Asked Brendan.

May pulled out a travel guide and began to read it.

"It says that the best place to start for beginner trainers in the Unova region is to visit the Aspertia City gym and take on Cheren, the Normal Type Gym leader" She read.

"Normal type" Ryan said to himself. "If that's the case, I might need to catch a fighting type Pokémon to give me an advantage".

"I heard it's possible to catch a Riolu around these parts". May told him.

"well then, what are we waiting for?" Declared Brendan, marching out of the room. "ADVETURE HO!"

* * *

The three trainers soon found themselves hiding in the bushes outside Floccesy town, watching and waiting for a Riolu to appear.

"Here. Take these" Brendan whispered, handing Ryan ten pokeballs.

Their attention then returned to spotting wild Pokémon.

Patrat

Patrat

Purrlion

Pidove

Patrat

Lillipup

Purrlion

Finally after much waiting around, the trio finally spotted a Riolu hiding in the undergrowth.

Then, Ryan and Squirtle leapt out from behind the bush where they were hiding.

"Ok. **Squirtle! Use Tackle!**"

Squirtle promptly launched a powerful tackle attack at the Riolu, causing it to fly off its feet.

The Riolu then launched a powerful Quick Attack, dealing a significant amount of damage to Squirtle.

"**Squirtle! Tackle! Once more!**"

Squirtle then launched another powerful Tackle and the Riolu. It managed to brace itself using endure, but it was still dealt a large amount of damage.

The Riolu, realising that it wounldn't be able to hold his own, started to make a break for it.

"Oh no you don't!" Ryan yelled as he pulled out a pokeball.

"**Go Pokeball!**"

Ryan pokeball flew through the air before bouncing off Riolu's head, opening and sucking the Riolu in.

Ryan, Brendan, May and Squirtle then waited to see if it would work.

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_CLICK_

A huge smile spread across Ryan's face as he walked over to the pokeball and picked it up.

"YES!" He yelled "My first Pokémon capture! Great job Squirtle!"

"Not bad at all for a rookie trainer" Brendan told him, coming out from behind the hedge, along with May, and giving Ryan a pat on the back.

"Okay Riolu, come on out" Ryan said, opening the pokeball and allowing Riolu out.

Riolu barked happily.

Ryan then pulled out his pokedex and scanned Riolu

_Riolu_

_The Emanation Pokémon_

_It uses the shapes of auras, which change according to emotion, to communicate with others._

_Lvl: 6_

_Known Moves: _

_Foresight_

_Quick Attack_

_Endure_

_Counter_

_Special Ability: Inner Focus_

"This'll give you a good advantage when you battle Cheren" May told him.

"Well then. Riolu, welcome to the team" Ryan told him happily.

As Squirtle climbed onto Ryan's shoulder, he pulled out his pokeball and started to withdraw Riolu into it.

Just then, however, he heard a voice nearby.

"RYAN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Who's that?" Asked Brendan.

"That's my Dad" Replied Ryan, with a feeling of dread in his voice.

"WE'RE NOT ANGRY WITH YOU! WE JUST WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"

"That's my Mum"

"RYAN, YOU'D BETTER COME OUT OR ELSE YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU WERE BORN!"

"And that's Lucy!"

"Shall we run?" Asked May.

"Good idea!" Declared Ryan.

With that, the three trainers bolted away, with Squirtle holding onto Ryan's shoulder and Riolu keeping up surprisingly easily.

Next stop: Aspertia City.


	3. Cheren

**Chapter 3: Cheren**

After what felt like miles of running, Ryan, Brendan and May, Squirtle and Riolu trudged into Aspertia City, worn out and hungry.

"Thank god that's over with" gasped Ryan.

Their stomachs began growling.

"Now I don't know about you, but my stomach's killing me" Brendan declared. "How about we grab a bite to eat".

"I think a buffet will seem more fitting" May added.

With that, the group stopped by the local Pokémon centre for lunch.

As Brendan tucked into his food, he noticed that Ryan and May were staring at the screen on May's laptop.

"Hey, what's up?" Asked Brendan.

"Oh, we're just watching a video of one of Cheren's gym battles" Ryan explained "We're trying to work out a suitable battle plan from it"

Once the video finished, Ryan and May closed the laptop and pondered whilst they tucked into their food.

"Okay, from what I've seen, Cheren battles with two Pokémon, a Patrat and a Lillipup". Ryan said thoughtfully. "It also appears that the Lillipup is the strongest of the two. Since I'm going to be battling with Squirtle and Riolu, I'm going to need to decide how to run with this."

"Well, since Squirtle is the strongest of the two, I'd suggest putting that up against the Lillipup" added Brendan.

Ryan checked Squirtle with his pokedex again.

_Level 10_

_Known moves:_

_Tackle_

_Tail whip_

_Bubble_

_Withdraw_

"It appears that Squirtle has gone up a few levels from fending off those Sewaddle" Ryan told his friends."I guess the only major worry is that Riolu might not be up to combat strength just yet".

"He may be soon, though" Brendan told them as he reached into his bag and pulled out three sweets in blue wrapping. "Take give these rare candies to Riolu. It'll boost him up a couple of levels".

"Sweet. Thanks" Ryan replied as he unwrapped the sweets and gave them to Riolu.

"Oh, and you might want to give this to Squirtle" Brendan added, pulling out one more rare candy, which Ryan unwrapped and fed to Squirtle.

Once they'd finished eating, Ryan got Squirtle and Riolu checked over and returned Riolu to his pokeball before he, Brendan and may headed off to the gym.

"Wait a minute. It's a school as well?" May asked as they headed towards the main entrance.

"Exactly. Cheren teaches the kids to become great pokemon trainers and eventually, they'll take him on in a pokemon battle" Ryan explained. "However, he will also gladly take on outsiders as well".

The three trainers entered the building and walked straight up to the receptionist waiting for them.

"Hello. Welcome to the Aspertia City Trainer School and Gym" she told them. "How can I help you?"

"I'm here to battle Cheren" Ryan told her.

"Right this way then, please" She said happily, getting out of her chair and leading the trio through the corridors.

As they walked past various classroom, the kids stopped and stared in awe at the Squirtle Ryan was carrying.

At last, the receptionist lead them into a classroom.

As they'd thought, Cheren was standing at the front, giving a lesson to the students.

"Cheren, a group of trainers have just arrived" the receptionist told Cheren. "One of them wants to battle you".

The entire group of students, along with Cheren, looked in the direction of the three trainers, making Ryan feel slightly uneasy.

He'd never been good with lots of attention.

The girls began cooing over Ryan's Squirtle.

"It's just so cute!" They all cooed, with a collection of "awwwwww"'s from the girls.

The attention of the boys, however, was all on Brendan, as they rushed up to him, asking him all sorts of questions.

"What Pokémon do you have?"

"What was it like battling Wallace?"

"Did you really see a Rayquaza?"

"Are you here to battle Cheren?"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Everybody calm down!" Called out Cheren.

The students rapidly returned to their seats in almost complete silence, waiting to hear what Cheren would say.

"Okay, so which one of you is the challenger?" He asked.

The entire class leaned forwards, mostly hoping that it was Brendan.

Brendan smiled.

"I'm sorry to say that I'm not the challenger in this case".

The entire class delivered one collective disappointed groan.

Brendan then placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"This is Ryan. He's new on his journey and he'd like to battle you". Brendan told Cheren.

Cheren looked at Ryan.

Then he looked at the Squirtle on his shoulder before pondering for a few moments.

"Very well then" he declared. "Ryan, I accept your challenge"

Cheren turned to the class.

"Lesson timeout!" He told them. "You all can watch the battle"

The entire class greeted this news with a massive cheer, before rushing out of their seats and heading out to the courtyard.

Ryan then walked out onto the courtyard and noticed the Pokémon battlefield painted into the ground.

As he stood at his side of the field, Cheren stood at the other, whilst the referee (one of the janitors) stood on the side.

"Good luck!" May called to Ryan.

Ryan focused on the battle that was about to ensue.

"Are you ready, Ryan?" Cheren asked.

"Ready!" He replied eagerly.

Ryan and Cheren both produced a pokeball.

"Very well then!" Cheren told him.

"**Go! Patrat!**"

"**Go! Riolu!**"

The two combatants threw their pokeballs into the air.

As the two balls opened, Patrat and Riolu appeared on opposite sides of the battlefield.

"The challenger gets the first move" declared the referee.

"**Riolu! Quick Attack!**"

Riolu did as asked, charging towards the Patrat with lightning speed.

"**Patrat! Use Detect!**"

Just as Riolu was about to land his attack, Patrat dodged out of the way.

As Riolu kept trying to land it's attack, Patrat kept dodging.

However, as Patrat dodged another attack from Riolu, it left itself wide open, allowing Riolu to dive in and land the attack, sending Patrat flying backwards.

"**Quick Patrat! Use Tackle!**"

Patrat began to counterattack, charging towards the Riolu.

In a split second, Ryan came up with an idea.

"**Riolu! Use Counter!**"

As the patrat hit Riolu, the emanation Pokémon took a significant amount of damage.

This however, was just what Ryan planned for, as Riolu countered the Patrat with double the power of Patrat's attack, sending flying backwards even further.

This time, however, Patrat came crashing to the ground.

As the dust cleared around it, Patrat was out cold.

"Patrat is unable to battle!" Declared the referee. "Riolu wins!"

"Yes! Great job Riolu!" Ryan yelled happily.

Riolu barked happily.

"Good job Patrat" Cheren said as he returned his Patrat to it's ball "You deserve a nice long rest".

"Not bad for a rookie trainer" Cheren told him. "You've got, by far, the best bond with your Pokémon that I've seen for a while. But be aware that this battle is far from over".

He produced one last pokeball.

"**Go! Lillipup!**"

Cheren threw the pokeball high into the air, releasing the Lillipup onto the battlefield.

"Okay Riolu, just do what you do best. **Use Quick Attack!**"

Once again, Riolu launched himself at the Lillipup with lightning speed.

However, the Lillipup proved more than a match for this, easily dodging out of the way.

Riolu did manage to land a few hits on the other Pokémon, but Lillipup still managed to land a powerful Tackle attack, sending Riolu flying backwards and knocking him out cold.

"Riolu is unable to battle! Lillipup wins" Declared the referee.

"You did great Riolu" Ryan told his friend as he returned him to his pokeball. "You deserve a rest".

He then lifted Squirtle off of his shoulder.

"Okay, this battle now hinges on you. I want you to get out there and give it your best shot. Got it?"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle replied.

Ryan then set Squirtle down, allowing him to run onto the battlefield.

"**Lillipup! Use Bite!**"

Lillipup launched itself at the tiny turtle pokemon with it's jaws wide open.

"**Quick! Use Withdraw!**"

Rapidly, Squirtle managed to withdraw into it's shell, preventing Lillipup from causing any significant damage once it bit into the shell.

"**Now use Tackle!**"

With that, Squirtle popped out of it's shell and landed a strong Tackle attack on the Lillipup.

"**Once again! Use Bite!**"

"**Squirtle!**** Use Tackle!**"

The two pokemon then began charging towards each other.

As they collided, they kicked up a large amount of dust.

As the dust settled they could properly see the outcome of the battle.

Squirtle was tired and weakened but just about conscious.

Lillipup, however, was out cold.

"Lillipup is unable to battle! Squirtle wins which means that the match winner is the challenger: Ryan!"

Then, the entire schoolyard erupted in cheering and applause.

"Yes! Great job buddy!" Ryan yelled happily as he scooped up Squirtle and gave him an almighty hug.

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle happily replied.

Cheren withdrew Lillipup into its pokeball and walked over to Ryan.

"Hey. I've got to say, that was what a real pokemon battle is" he said, shaking Ryan's hand. "Great job".

Brendan and May walked over to Ryan, giving him a pat on the back.

"You know, for a rookie, you're actually really good" Brendan remarked happily.

"Well done. You did great out there" added May.

"Now. We must move on. As the gym leader of Aspertia City, it is my duty and pleasure to give you the basic badge" Cheren declared, producing a basic badge and handing it to Ryan.

As Ryan stared at the badge he realised something.

"Oh poo. I just realised I don't have a badge case" Ryan exclaimed.

"Don't worry. I have a spare" Cheren told him as he produced a badge cse from his back pocket and handed it to Ryan.

"Sweet! Thank you Cheren" Ryan said happily, shaking Cheren's hand.

Ryan then began to notice that the entire group of kids had encircled the group with big smiles on their faces.

"I think they'd like to see our Pokémon" Brendan told May as he took out six pokeballs.

The kids nodded vigorously.

"Very well then. **Come on out!**"

Brendan chucked him pokeballs into the air, releasing a Sceptile, a swellow, a breloom, a Mightyena, a Milotic and a Camerupt.

"**Come on out everyone!**"

May then threw her six pokeballs into the air, releasing a Blaziken, a Pelipper, a Tropius, a Ludicolo, a Beautifly and a Manectric.

The students then swarmed the twelve Pokémon, looking over them in awe.

Ryan was also busy scanning each and every one of them.

After a few minutes, Brendan and May then returned their Pokémon to their balls.

"Sorry, but we've got to get going" Brendan told them.

"The thing for you to do now would be to challenge Roxie at the Virbank City gym" Cheren told them.

"Great. thank you Cheren" Ryan said to him before they left.

Before they left for Virbank city, the group stopped off at the Pokémon centre to let Riolu and Squirtle heal from their injuries.

However, as they left the Pokémon centre, they were greeted by hundreds of camera flashes from the paparazzi, mostly calling out to Brendan.

Ryan and May felt uneasy like this.

Brendan, however, had no problem whatsoever.

"This is the type of attention you get as a league champion" he told them. "To be honest, I love every minute of it".

The trio then pushed theirway past the paparazzi and headed away from Aspertia City.

Nest stop: Virbank City.


	4. The Red Carpet Beckons

**Chapter 4: The Red Carpet Beckons**

The trio of trainers soon arrived in Virbank city with Ryan eager to battle Roxie and gain his second badge.

Firstly, however, they decided to wander around the city and see if anything was going on.

As they walked past a TV store, however, May noticed something.

"Hey, loot at this" She told the boys.

As they came over and looked, they could see what May was going on about.

On the TVs in the windows, the news was being shown.

Only this time, it the news reporter was talking about them.

Video footage of them walking out of the Aspertia City Pokémon centre appeared on-screen.

"The people of Aspertia City and indeed the Unova Region have come to expect many things in their lives, including the fact that both Aspertia City and Nuvema Town have birthed two Pokémon masters, one of whom is the reigning Unova Champion. One thing that Aspertia City didn't expect, however, was the arrival of Brendan, the Hoenn region champion and Pokémon master in his own right. Not just that, he arrived in Aspertia City with his girlfriend, May, and a rookie trainer by the name of Ryan"

Cheren then appeared on-screen.

"Well, those three walked into the gym with Ryan asking to challenge me. They then walked away with a Basic Badge" He told the interviewer.

"So, this Ryan kid. The students of the school are saying good things about him. Do you see any potential in him?"

"Oh absolutely! I've had many trainers challenge me, but I've seen something between him and his Pokémon that really puts them head and shoulders above the rest".

The image changed.

"It is currently believed that the three trainers are currently heading to Virbank City to challenge Roxie, the local gym leader there. Whilst many things can be said about this new trainer, if Cheren's words are anything to go by, he might just be a force to be reckoned with".

As the news broadcast ended, a huge smile appeared on Ryan's face.

"Wow. You're already making waves, mate" Brendan said, patting Ryan on the head. "The way you're going, you'll become a celebrity in no time."

Just as the word "Celebrity" slipped out of Brendan's mouth, the news came back on the telly.

"Amateur film fans, cameras at the ready!" Declared the news reporter. "Pokestar Studios have announced they are starting a brand new competition to find the best young director. All those who want to enter are required to sign up at pokestar studios to be in with a chance to win a mystery prize".

The three trainers looked at each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ryan asked with a big smile on his face.

Brendan and May both nodded vigorously.

"Well then, let's go!"

The three trainers dashed off in the direction of pokestar studios in the hopes of winning the mystery prize.

* * *

Thankfully, the three trainers managed to find the place to sign up once they arrived at pokestar studios.

They noticed a long line of people queuing up in front of a small stand with a sign on the top.

_All Contest entrants here for entry forms_.

The trio then spent the next hour standing in line and waiting to get the entry form.

Once they finally got the form, they checked over the list of contest rules that came attached to it.

"Let's see here" May muttered as she began to read through the list. "In order to compete in the competition, you must come up with a short movie to give to the judges. The movie must be 15 minutes long at most, but it can be whatever genre you wish. Contestants will also be allowed full access to the pokestar studios props, costumes, makeup, equipment and special effects departments. You must hand in your finished movie to the contest representative by midday Saturday. That's three days from now".

Brendan had been having a small look around as he'd been listening to May reading out the rules.

"May" he said tapping her on the shoulder. "Is that who I think it is?"

As May and Ryan looked in the direction, they instantly recognised the unkempt cyan hair of the person Brendan was talking about.

"BRAWLY!" Brendan called out to him.

The figure with the unkempt hair turned around to reveal that they were indeed the Dewford town gym leader.

He gave a massive grin when he recognised Brendan.

As Brendan motioned for him to come over, the trio discovered that he was with two other people. The first was a male, not much older than Ryan, wearing blue shorts, red jacket and had spiky black hair. The other was a female, roughly the same age as hugh. She was wearing long black tights, a yellow skirt, a white and blue top and a white and pink cap. She also had long brown hair.

Brendan and May went up and embraced Brawly in a massive hug.

"It's great to see you two again!" Exclaimed Brawly as they broke the hug.

"Same here. What might you be doing in the Unova region?" asked May.

"Well, I felt like having a time out from being the Dewford town Gym Leader and decided to visit the Unova region. I heard that there was a film competition on, so I was heading to sign up. It just so happens that Hugh and Rosa were showing me around when they decided to sign up as well" Brawly told them, indicating to the two trainers next to him.

"Glad to meet you" Hugh told them, shaking hands with the two Hoenn trainers, as did Rosa.

Rosa then noticed Ryan standing next to Brendan.

"Who's this?" She asked.

"Oh, this is Ryan. He's a rookie trainer we've been travelling with"

"Pleasure to meet you" Ryan said as he shook the hands of Hugh, Rosa and Brawly. "So anyway, you said you were heading to sign up for the competition, right?"

"Yeah. We've always wanted to try our hand at making movies" Rosa told them.

"Well then, instead of you guys going off to sign up, how about you guys join our group, so all six can make the short movie?" Ryan asked.

"You think so?" Enquired Hugh.

"I think it'll be a good thing" May told them. "With the six of us, we could make this thing much better than anything three of us could make".

The three other trainers thought about this for a minute.

"Very well then, we'll do it" Hugh told them.

* * *

The group of six soon found themselves sitting in the mess hall, deciding the premise of their film over lunch, with Ryan taking down the notes.

"Okay. Firstly, the genre of the film. What should it be?" He asked.

"Martial arts" Brawly said.

"Action" Countered Brendan

"Sci-Fi" Countered Hugh.

"Okay then, how about it's a Sci-Fi action movie with some Martial Arts elements added to it?"

The group nodded in agreement.

"Okay, what should be the main premise of the movie?"

"Giant robots"

"Aliens"

"Saving the Damsel in distress"

Ryan pondered for a moment.

"Okay. I have an idea for the main plot". He told the group.

They all leaned in, listening eagerly.

"The movie begins with aliens attacking the Unova Region in giant robots. The Unova Defense Force try to counter the aliens, but to no avail. So, as a last resort, the UDF commander calls in two former members of the UDF who were disavowed for being loose cannons. However, just as they're about to lay waste to the aliens, they discover that the aliens have captured the daughter of the president and threaten to exterminate her if they don't surrender. From there, the loose cannons have to sort out the aliens, whilst trying to rescue the damsel in distress. How about that."

The other five thought about this for a minute.

"That sounds like the most awesome thing ever" Hugh told them.

The other four nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alrighty then, lets get this done!" Declared Ryan.

The six then finished off their lunch and ran off to begin the shooting.


	5. Loose Cannons

**Chapter 5: Loose Cannons**

What had originally started as a good week for the people of the Unova region had now become a fight for survival.

Whilst the week had indeed been peaceful for most of it, the attacks had caught them off guard.

Now, the UDF and their allies were the only thing that stood between the people of the world and total enslavement at the hands of the Zugonian space empire.

Now, Commander Brawly, leader of the UDF, was sat at his desk, wondering as to how they would possibly be able to counter the Zugonians.

However, there was one major flaw to everything he thought of.

When the Zugonians launched their crusade on Humilau City, they'd arrived in 300ft tall fighting robots.

Now matter what the forces of the world threw at the robots, they glanced off the robot like they were just sticks and stones.

All the UDF and their allies could do was slow the advance of the robots.

Behemoths, they called them.

In Brawly's eyes, there was nothing they could do to win the war.

Just then, however, the phone on his desk rang.

The commander answered it.

"Hello?...Yes sir, this is Brawly speaking...Yes, I know that this situation is looking bad!...No sir, there nothing much else we can do by the looks of things...What do you mean "we need them back"? You don't mean...I'm sorry sir, but I swore that I'd never let those two re-join the UDf if they were the last soldiers on the planet... Yes, I know they're incredibly skilled and get the job done well...Sir, the fact that they're loose cannons was the reason they were disavowed to begin with!"

Brawly sighed as he opened one of his desk drawers, took out a personnel file and placed it on his desk.

"Very well then, sir. I'll bring them in...Goodbye sir".

As Brawly hang the phone, he dreaded having to do this.

He opened the personnel file and looked at the personnel's pictures.

Whilst Brawly knew that these two had a habit of ignoring command and doing their own thing, he had to admit, when it came to getting the job done, they were in a league of their own.

The two in question were Sergeants Brendan and May. The two of them had originally joined the UDF a few years before the war began and had rapidly risen through the ranks for getting their missions done quicker and more efficiently then anyone else in the force.

However, they had a knack of regularly ignoring orders from their commanding officers and completing their missions in their own way. They did this once too often and ending up paying for this with their jobs.

This, however, didn't stop them from selling their stories as books and making a ton of cash from that.

With the cash they had acquired, they'd been able to retire to a large house outside of Dewford town.

As Brawly prepared to give the call, Brendan and May were relaxing on their balcony in their pyjamas, eating their breakfast and looking out over the horizon.

Below them, on the porch, their beloved Pokémon, Brendan's Sceptile and May's Blaziken were sparring with each other.

Just then, however, May's Pokegear started ringing.

Her face was like thunder when she recognised then number of the person who was calling her.

"B, I thought I told you to never call me on this device again" She snapped as she answered.

"Nice to here you too, M" Brawly replied sarcastically.

She sighed.

"Look. If you're calling just to get Brendan and I to run an errand for you and the UDF, I'd advise you hang up right about now".

"No need" Brawly replied. "This request comes straight from high command".

This caught the duo's attention.

"High Command? I thought they were done with us, us being so...reckless and all" Brendan said.

"Let's just say that your impressive track record has led them to give the order for you two to come back. So are you two up for a little bit of freelancing?"

"What's in it for us?"

"Better facilities, better resources and a large pile of cash. Still got your colours?"

"Yeah I... think we've got them somewhere."

"So, when can I expect you to be in the Unova Region?"

"We'll be there before you know it" Brendan finished before May hung up.

* * *

Not too long after making the call, Brawly found himself wandering around his almost empty barracks.

Most of his soldiers were elsewhere in the region, trying to halt the advance of the Zugonians.

The rest of his men were prepping to leave.

He walked out onto the main landing strip, lost in deep thought.

Just then, however, he noticed a small black in the sky.

This then became two black shapes.

As they got closer, Brawly realised that they weren't a new form of Zugonian fighting vehicle, but Brendan and May, flying in on a Swellow and a Tropius.

They were wearing the uniform of the UDF. The main difference, however, was the fact that these uniforms were all black instead of red and silver.

"Well, that was quick" Brawly told them as they landed next to him.

"Let's just cut the crap and get this thing over and done with" May replied as she hopped off her Tropius.

"Very well then" Brawly replied, pulling a small holographic projector out of his pocket and turning it on, showing the image of the Zugonian's behemoths attacking Humilau City.

"As you know, the Zugonian army has launched an all out attack on the Unova region. We've tried to hold them off, but their behemoth robots have proved more than a match for our defences. In fact, they've managed to push us back to Opelucid city and they're currently marching in that direction".

"So where do we come in?" Asked Brendan, hopping off his Swellow.

The image on the screen changed to show the leader of the Zugonian army. It had almost exactly the same shape as a human. The main differences were the four large, luminous, disk like eyes on it's head, the various strange spikes coming out of it's head and it's blue skin that looked like putty.

"Well, the original plan of action was to assassinate the Zugonian army leader, Zyphodia Hughonis".

The image changed to show a girl, bound and gagged, hanging upside down from something.

"The only problem was, however, was that Zyphodia had taken Rosa, the president of the Unova region, hostage. Zyphodia also threatened to have the girl killed if he and his personal guard happen to be attacked. That's where you two and your Pokémon come in. Your job is to infiltrate Zyphodia's personal behemoth, neutralise him and rescue the girl. Do what you want with Zyphodia, but not a scratch on Rosa. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah" May replied, climbing back onto her Tropius as Brendan climber back onto his Swellow. "So, where might they be?"

"The Main Behemoth strike force is heading for Opelucid City, but Zyphodia and his personal guard are heading for Castelia City".

Without another word, Brendan and May took off and flew in the direction of Castelia City.

* * *

When the two arrived there, they found the Behemoth group marching into Castelia City unchallenged

"Hey. Is it me or do those Behemoths look a bit like Genesect?" Asked Brendan.

"Yes. Yes they do" Replied May. "So which one is the girl in?"

"Well, seeing as one of them is black whilst the others are red, I'm going to guess that one". Brendan guessed.

The two decided the best way to attack was to take them by surprise.

They decided to go about this by flying directly above the lead Behemoth and silently dropping down onto it.

As they stepped off their pokemon, May reached into her pocket, pulled out a pokeball and released her Blaziken from it.

"**Blaziken! Use Flamethrower!**"

Blaziken then unleashed a long trail of flame from it's mouth, melting away part of both the top and side of the Behemoth's head.

Brendan and May returned Swellow and Tropius to their pokeballs before they and Blaziken jumped inside.

Inside, they discovered a lone chair, sitting in front of a control panel with a screen that was illuminating the room with a dark blue light.

They noticed a rubbery blue hand gripping the arms of the seat.

Zyphodia Hughonis stepped out of the seat and turned to face the three.

"Ah, who is this? Another group of humans to subdue?" He asked, with a strange mutant husk in his voice.

"Where is the girl?" Asked May.

This was greeted by a loud scream of "I'M DOWN HERE!" Coming from somewhere down a nearby ladder.

"I'll deal with this guy. You go for Rosa." May whispered to Brendan.

May then cracked her knuckles.

"I'm really going to enjoy this" May rasped.

"Well, if that's the way you want to sort this, so be it." Zyphodia replied.

May and Blaziken then charged the Zugonian leader, launching an array of martial arts attacks against it.

Now, if it had just been May fighting Zyphodia, May would've been destroyed by Zyphodia.

But the simple fact that Blaziken was there really caused a problem for the commander.

As the three fought on, Brendan slipped down the ladder.

He arrived in a small, dark chamber within the Behemoth's torso.

Next to him, Rosa was chained to the ceiling, upside down.

"Oh thank god you're here. They took me onboard and chained me up and thought I was never going..." She began.

"Save it for later" Brendan interrupted as he began pulling at the chains. "Right now, I'm getting you out of here".

After spending a few minutes struggling with the chains, he decided to release Sceptile from its ball.

"**Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade!**"

As Sceptile landed a powerful leaf Blade attack on the chains, they shattered into many small pieces.

Brendan then picked up Rosa and put her over his shoulder.

"Okay, now we need to make a way out of here. **Use Leaf Storm!**"

Sceptile then released an even more powerful leaf storm attack on the side of the chamber, creating a big hole in the wall.

Brendan then released Swellow from his ball.

He then jumped onto Swellow's back, still carrying a screaming Rosa, followed by Sceptile.

This caught the attention of Zyphodia, May and Blaziken, who were still battling in the head of the Behemoth.

"What?! NO!" Roared Zyphodia as he stared up at the Swellow.

This proved a good enough distraction for the Zugonian commander.

"**Blaziken! Hi Jump Kick!**"

As Zyphodia turned round, he received an almighty kick to the jaw from Blaziken.

This was enough to send him through the burnt hole and plummeting to his death, screaming all the way.

May then rushed over to the controls.

They were tricky to figure out, but May was soon able to control the cannon on the Behemoth's head.

As the cannon swung round, it unleashed a burst of energy at one of the nearby Behemoths, causing to explode in a giant fireball.

This was the fate that also befell five others.

However, as May came to the final one, she knew she wouldn't have enough time to take it out.

As it energized it's cannons, May and Blaziken made a dash for the hole, leaping out just as it fired, narrowly avoiding being cooked alive.

As they fell, May released Tropius from it's ball.

She and Blaziken then grabbed onto Tropius's back as it flew away.

They then met up with Brendan as they flew away.

"Great job back there" Brendan told May and Blaziken, giving them a high five. "So now what?"

"Well, we drop Rosa off back at base, we head to Opelucid city, we take on the main army, we win, we get paid and then we go home". May replied

"I like the sound of that" Brendan replied.

As the duo flew off into the distance, the film cut to black and the credits began to roll.


	6. A Sought After Prize

**Chapter 6: A Sought After Prize**

For a short moment in the movie theatre, there was silence.

This was then stopped by wild clapping and cheering from the audience.

In the middle of the movie theatre, Ryan, Brendan, May, Brawly, Hugh and Rosa were sitting in the seats, giving each other handshakes and high fives all round, with Squirtle still sitting on one of Ryan's shoulders.

"At this rate, we'll easily win this thing". Hugh told them.

As the applause died down, one of the contest representatives appeared in front of the audience.

"Now, before we announce the winner of the contest, we'd first like to say thank you to all those who participated. You've all made some great movies" They declared. "Anyway, onto the prizes. The group who the judges think have made the best short film will receive the following: $60,000 cash prize, tickets to the premiere of the final "Brycen Man" Movie and this Pokémon egg!"

The contest representative stepped aside to reveal small table. On it, within a glass case, sat a white egg with light blue and white patches on it.

This was greeted with many people in the audience going "ooooooh".

"The winning team will also have their short movie shown during the build up to a select group of upcoming blockbuster films".

Another contest representative handed the first one a golden envelope.

"As I said, everyone tried their hearts out. But there can only be one winner".

The audience tensed with excitement.

"And the winner is..."

The representative opened the envelope.

"TEAM RYAN FOR "LOOSE CANNONS!"" They yelled.

With that, the entire theatre erupted into cheering, as the six leapt out of their seats and gave one massive group hug.

They then happily made their way down to the front of the theatre, where they received their tickets, split their cash and thanked the contest people.

Suddenly, however, the lights cut out.

As pandemonium began to erupt in the darkness, the group heard the sounds of someone running into the theatre, picking up something and running away again.

As the lights came back on, everyone looked in the direction of the front of the theatre to see what had happened.

The Pokémon egg had been stolen.

As the pandemonium began to grow, Brawly noticed someone quickly slip out one of the emergency exits.

"They went this way. Follow me!" He told the others.

The six then dashed out the same exit in pursuit of the thief.

They trailed the thief through studio lot after studio lot, relentlessly chasing after them.

As they did so, they noticed a giant black shape fly overhead.

As the thief reached the exit, he found his path blocked by many security guards.

As they turned round to run back the other way, the six trainers caught up with them, leaving the thief surrounded.

The trainers could now fully see what the thief was wearing.

They were wearing a black and white striped shirt and light blue trousers, complete with black gloves and a matching blue bandana with a stylised "A" on it.

Brendan's face was like thunder.

He recognised that attire all too well.

"Okay, before this thing gets nasty, enlighten us as to what a lowly Team Aqua Grunt like yourself is doing in the Unova region and what exactly would they want with a Pokémon egg?"

"I'm afraid to say I can't answer that" The Team Aqua grunt replied, clutching the egg. "You'll have to take that up with my command".

Brendan scoffed.

"Please. If I can beat Archie once, then he can easily be beaten again".

"It's not just him you'll have to deal with" The grunt replied.

As if on cue, the black shape that had appeared in the sky, appeared directly overhead.

As it began to descend, they noticed that it was shaped like a medieval sailboat.

The main differences in this case where the strange dark blue fins on the sides and, obviously, that the ship was hovering in the air.

However, they instantly recognised the stylised "P" on the main sail.

Now, it was Hugh's turn to have a face like thunder.

The Plasma Frigate had arrived.

Then, ladders dropped down from the ship and dozens of Team Plasma and Team Aqua grunts dropped down from them, encircling the group.

"Well...That's new" Commented May.

"Now, I strongly suggest you surrender already" The egg thief told them.

"Hey, head's up. I'm about to unleash my rage". Hugh told the others.

"HEY!" Came a shout from behind them.

As they looked round, they saw all the other trainers had caught up with the group.

"Let's do this!" Yelled Brendan as he went for one of his pokeballs.

"**GO! SCEPTILE!**"

The others then went for their pokeballs.

"**GO! BLAZIKEN!**"

"**GO! SERPERIOR!**"

**"GO! SAMUROTT!**"

**"GO! HARIYAMA!**"

"**GO! RIOLU!**"

As the other trainers went for their pokeballs, so did the grunts.

Pokestar Studios soon descended into utter chaos, with an army of Pokémon trainers battling against the combined might of Team Plasma and Team Aqua.

Amidst the chaos, Ryan noticed the egg thief run away from the action and dive down a dark alleyway.

Ryan then dashed after him, tailed by his two Pokémon.

Thankfully for them, the alleyway happened to lead to a dead end.

A the thief span round to face Ryan, he pulled out a pokeball and threw it in the air, releasing a Poochyena.

In response to this, Squirtle leapt off of Ryan's shoulder and released a jet of water from its mouth, showing that it now knew Water Gun.

As Squirtle battled with Poochyena, Riolu launched a powerful Feint attack on the Team Aqua Grunt, causing the egg to go flying.

Ryan's body reacted before his brain did as he leapt forwards and just about managed to catch the egg.

Then, suddenly, the egg began to glow brightly.

It was hatching.

As Ryan held the hatching egg tightly, Squirtle and Riolu continued to hold off the Team Aqua Grunt.

As the egg finished hatching, the shell completely disappeared.

Ryan stared down at the Pokémon that was now in its place.

A Pachirisu was lying asleep in his arms.

"Chi Pa?" It murmured as it began to stir.

Just then, Squirtle launched one final Water Gun at the Poochyena, knocking it out cold.

The Team Aqua Grunt then received another Feint attack to the guts from Riolu, causing him to pass out as well.

Just then, Brawly arrived in the alleyway.

"I just saw a bright light coming from here" he told Ryan. "Is everything alright?"

"It's more than alright" Ryan replied happily, as he got up and turned round to show the Pachirisu in his arms, now fully awake".

"Chi Pa!" The Pachirisu said happily.

Suddenly, the Pachirisu leapt out of Ryan's arms and dashed off towards the main battle.

Obviously worried for the Pokémon's safety, Ryan and Brawly tailed after it.

They arrived at the scene of the battle just in time to see the Pachirisu launch a powerful Quick Attack into the face of a Scraggy, knocking it out instantly.

Ryan and Brawly were amazed. A newly hatched Pachirisu had just knocked out a Scraggy as if it was a seasoned battler.

By the time the police showed up, most of the Team Plasma and Team Aqua grunts had retreated to the Plasma frigate, which had flown off to parts unknown.

The rest of the grunts, however, ended up in the hands of the police.

"Thank you for stopping those thieves from getting their filthy hands on Pachirisu" One of the contest representatives told them.

"No thanks necessary" Ryan replied. "Although, I still find it confusing as to what Team Aqua and Team Plasma would want with a Pachirisu".

The representative sighed.

"Well, you see, that Pachirisu is no ordinary Pachirisu. During it's early stages of development in its egg, a group of scientists got a hold of the egg and genetically modified Pachirisu. This means that Pachirisu is much stronger, faster and smarter than usual. This also means that it would learn and gain experience faster, particularly during the early stages after it hatched from it's egg".

The group took a moment to process this.

They looked at the Pachirisu sitting on Ryan's shoulder.

"Wow. The first genetically modified Pokémon. Right here, on Ryan's shoulder". Rosa said in awe.

"You know, I think it would be best if you took care of that Pachirisu, Ryan" Brendan told him. "A young trainer like you could use another strong Pokémon. Besides, it looks like Pachirisu has already taken a liking to you".

"Chi Pa!" Pachirisu said in agreement, hugging the side of Ryan's head.

"Well, Rosa and I had best be going" Hugh told the others. "We're on the way back to Aspertia City".

"I'd better be heading back to Dewford Town" Brawly Added.

The six trainers said their goodbyes to each other before Hugh, Rosa and Brawly headed off in their separate directions. Hugh and Rosa to Aspertia City and Brawly to catch his ferry back to Dewford Town.

"Well then Pachirisu, welcome to the team" Ryan told his new pokemon, stroking the top of it's head.

Ryan then pulled his pokedex out of his jacket pocket and scanned Pachirisu.

_Pachirisu_

_The Elesquirrel pokemon_

_A pair may be seen rubbing their cheek pouches together in an effort to share stored electricity._

_Level 7_

_Known Moves:_

_Growl_

_Bide_

_Quick Attack_

_Special Ability: Run Away_

Ryan then put the pokedex away, pulled a pokeball out of his bag and activated it.

In went Pachirisu.

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_Click!_

"Well then, I think we know where to go now" Ryan told Brendan and May, pocketing the pokeball.

"Roxie?" They asked

"Roxie". He replied.

As Squirtle clambered back onto Ryan's shoulder, he withdrew Riolu into its ball and the three trainers headed out of pokestar studios, looking for Ryan's next big challenge: The Virbank City Gym.


	7. Roxie

**Chapter 7: Roxie**

Thankfully for the trio of trainers, it was surprisingly easy to find the Virbank City Gym.

After a short while of aimlessly wandering around, they'd finally been directed there by a passer by.

The passer by had directed them to a dingy looking door with the Unova Pokémon gym symbol on the front.

As they opened the door, they found a set of dimly lit, even more dingy stairs.

As they descended the steps, they faintly heard the sound of rock music coming out from behind the door at the bottom of the stairs.

Then, as they opened the door at they were almost blown off their feet by the loud music.

Then soon found themselves in an underground music club, filled with loud rock music.

The room was completely deserted, apart from the three trainers, an old man sitting in the corner and a band practising onstage.

Playing on bass was none other than the white haired gym leader herself, Roxie.

The trio soon found themselves playing wild air guitar solos, syncing in with the music.

"I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING MORE AWESOME IN MY LIFE!" Ryan yelled, tryng to be heard over the music.

"IF SHE BATTLES AS WELL AS SHE CAN PLAY GUITAR, YOU'RE IN FOR A REAL FIGHT!" Added May.

"WELL, THAT IS IF SHE NOTICES US!" Brendan interjected.

"HEY! ROXIE! I'M HERE TO BATTLE YOU!" Ryan yelled to the gym leader.

"SQUIRTLE!" Yelled Squirtle.

Roxie was too wrapped up in her band practice to notice the three trainers.

"HOW DO WE GET HER TO BATTLE US?" Ryan yelled to the old man.

"SIMPLE! YOU JUST NEED TO BE LOUDER THAN HER!" He replied, tossing Ryan an electric guitar, already plugged in to it's own massive amp, all dials cranked up to eleven.

The man also took the liberty of tossing a guitar pick to Ryan.

"Might as well" Ryan thought to himself.

Immediately, Ryan went for the highest note possible on the guitar, releasing a loud, ear-splitting screeching noise.

The three trainers and the old man all flinched in pain.

This was also enough to stop the band onstage from playing as they all clutched their ears.

"ALL RIGHT!" Screamed Roxie. "WHOEVER THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY TO DISRUPT MY BAND WILL BE CLOBBERED UNTIL..."

She stopped when she recognised Brendan.

"Well well" Roxie said, grinning. "Guys, it appears the Hoenn champion has decided to grace us with his presence".

"Hey, perhaps he's here to battle you" the drummer added.

"Very well then" Roxie muttered.

She then leapt off the stage a bit too eagerly and pointed at Brendan.

"BRENDAN! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!" She yelled.

"There's only one problem with that" he replied.

"And that is?"

"I'm not actually the one who's here to battle you".

Roxie and her band members all had dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"Ryan's the one who's here to challenge you" Brendan explained, pointing to Ryan.

Roxie looked at the young trainer.

Then, she looked him up and down before looking at the happy Squirtle on his shoulder.

"All right then, Ryan. I accept your challenge" She declared.

As they each got into position at opposite ends of the room, Ryan threw the guitar and the pick to the old man, who'd got out of his chair.

He placed the guitar in the corner and stood at the side of the room, acting as the referee for the match.

Roxie then produced a pokeball.

"**Go! Koffing!**"

Ryan thought hard about which Pokémon to send out first.

After deciding, he then produced a pokeball of his own.

"**Go! Pachirisu!**"

"The challenger gets the first move" declared the old man.

"**Pachirisu! Use Quick Attack!**"

Pachirisu began speeding towards the Koffing.

"**Koffing! Clear Smog!**"

Roxie's Koffing then released a massive cloud of white smoke from it's pores, enveloping the Pachirisu and dealing some damage.

This, however, didn't stop Pachirisu from charging out the other side of the smog and striking the Koffing hard.

"**Quick! Koffing! Counter Attack with Smog!**"

Koffing unleashed clouds of black smoke from its pores, enveloping Pachirisu once again.

This time, however, Pachirisu was unable to continue attacking, as the smog was so thick and poisonous.

When it eventually cleared, Pachirisu had been dealt significant damage.

Pachirisu had appeared to have turned slightly purple and had a slightly exasperated look on its face.

It had been poisoned.

"Oh no. Hang in there Pachirisu!" Ryan called to his Pokémon.

"**Okay Koffing! Let's finish this off with Assurance!**"

"**It's now or never, Pachirisu. Use Quick Attack once more!"**

The two Pokémon began rapidly advancing towards each other.

Just then, however, Pachirisu's cheeks began to furiously spark electricity.

As it charged towards the Koffing, it's body was suddenly surrounded by electricity.

"That's an odd looking Quick Attack." Roxie said, confused.

Ryan realised what was happening.

"That's no Quick Attack. THAT'S VOLT TACKLE!"

Before Roxie could react, Pachirisu launched its charged attack at the Koffing, directly hitting it and dealing a massive amount of damage before sending it flying into the wall.

It then fell down, unconscious.

"Koffing is unable to battle" the old man declared. "Pachirisu wins!"

"Yes! Great job Pachirisu!" Yelled Ryan.

"Chi Pa!" Came the happy reply from Pachirisu.

Just then, Pachirisu flinched from the Volt Tackle recoil damage and the effects of poisoning.

However, it still managed to hang on.

Roxie then pulled out one last pokeball.

"**Go! Whirlipede!**"

As the Curlipede Pokémon appeared on the battlefield, Ryan took a quick moment to decide his next move.

However, Roxie was one step ahead of him.

"**Use Poison Sting!**"

Ryan managed to quickly react to this.

"**Dodge it, then use Quick Attack!**"

As the Whirlipede began launching dozens of tiny poisonous darts at Pachirisu, it responded by quickly rolling out of the way and charging at the Whirlipede.

"**Whirlipede! Use Venoshock!**"

Ryan hadn't anticipated this.

Pachirisu managed to deal a significant amount of damage to the other Pokémon, but this failed to stop it unleashing a powerful Venoshock attack.

This, plus the fact that Pachirisu had been poisoned were more than enough to cause it to faint.

"Pachirisu is unable to battle! Whirlipede wins!" Declared the old man.

Ryan returned Pachirisu to it's ball.

"Great Job Pachirisu. You deserve a nice long rest". He said.

"Great job Whirlipede!" Roxie said to her Pokémon before playing a small guitar solo.

Ryan then looked up at Squirtle.

"Go for it, buddy!" He said.

"Squirtle Squirt!" His best friend replied as he leapt off Ryan's shoulder and landed on the battlefield.

"**Okay Squirtle, use Water Gun!**"

"**Counter with Venoshock!**"

As Squirtle unleashed a powerful jet of water from its mouth, Whirlipede unleashed a stream of poisonous liquid from its pores, meaning that they effectively cancelled each other out.

"**Whirlipede! Use Protect!**"

As the Venoshock attack stopped, Whirlipede put up an invisible defensive barrier, effectively causing the Water gun attack to glance off it.

"**Now use Poison Sting!**"

As the water gun attack finished, Whirlipede unleashed another round of poison darts, causing Squirtle significant damage.

"**Now use Pursuit!**"

Whirlipede began to roll towards the Squirtle, gradually picking up speed.

"**Dodge it, then use Water Gun!**"

Squirtle immediately dodged out of the way and unleashed a jet of water at the Whirlipede, but Whirlipede just turned around to rammed straight into the Squirtle, causing it to fly backwards before crashing to the ground.

Whilst Squirtle's water gun had managed to cause damage to the Whirlipede, the opponent Pokémon's Pursuit attack had nearly knocked Squirtle out cold.

"Come on, buddy! We can still do this!" Ryan called to his teammate.

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle replied.

Just then, however, Squirtle began to glow brightly.

Ryan, Brendan, May, Roxie, the other band members, the old man and the Whirlipede watched as the glowing Squirtle began to change.

Squirtle grew bigger, its tail began to change shape and strange fins appeared on the side of its head.

Eventually, the glowing subsided, showing the Pokémon that stood before them.

"Wartortle!" It yelled.

Ryan took a few moments to process what had just happened.

The Squirtle that he had lived with for nearly four years of his life had just evolved into a Wartortle.

A smile slowly crept across his face.

He'd just had a great battle idea.

"**Quick Wartortle! Use Withdraw!**"

Wartortle quickly withdrew into it's shell.

"**Use Water Gun, but away from Whirlipede!**"

Brendan, May and Roxie both raised a curious and confused eyebrow at this.

But Wartortle knew what Ryan was planning.

Still in it's shell, it launched a long jet of water out of the hole in the back, causing it to slowly glide towards the Whirlipede, gradually picking up speed, essentially turning the shell into a homing missile.

Roxie then realised what Ryan was planning.

"**Whirlipede! Dodge it!**"

Whirlipede managed to roll out of the way, but all Wartortle did to counter this was slightly redirect the Water Gun, turning the shell in the direction of the Whirlipede.

After a short while of following the Pokémon around, Wartortle's shell smacked into Whirlipede at high speed, sending it flying through the air and crashing into the wall opposite them.

As Whirlipede fell down, it was found to be out cold.

"Whirlipede is unable to battle! Wartortle wins, which means the victor is the challenger: Ryan!" Declared the old man.

"Yes! Great job Wartortle!" Ryan yelled happily, running up to Wartortle and embracing it.

"Wartortle!" His friend yelled happily.

"Mate, that was just amazing!" Brendan said to him. "There's good battles, there's great battles and then there's that! Great job."

"Yeah. Congratulations." Added May.

Roxie walked onto the battlefield and up to Ryan.

"Hey. I've got to say, that was possibly the best battle I've ever experienced as a gym leader. Whilst I'm bummed out that I lost, I'm happy to give you your own Toxic Badge" She said, handing it to Ryan.

Ryan took the badge, shook Roxie's hand and placed the badge in his badge case.

"Thank you" Ryan said politely.

"Now, I guess the next step for you would be to head off to Castelia City and challenge Burgh. One word of advice for you would be to have a good strategy against Bug type Pokémon".

"I've heard you can catch fire type Pokémon at the Virbank Complex, just down the road" The Old man explained.

"Okay. Thank you" Ryan replied.

The three trainers then left the gym and headed off towards the Pokémon centre to heal up his Pokémon before heading off.

* * *

Just like when searching for a Riolu, Ryan and Co. soon found themselves hiding in the bushes, waiting for a fire type Pokémon to appear.

Since Wartortle was heavier than Squirtle, Ryan was unable to carry him on his shoulder, so it waited next to him.

Unfortunately for them, the old man had failed to mention that fire types were rare in the Virbank complex.

Whilst they had indeed spotted a few normal and steel types, they still were left waiting for a fire type.

Then, just as they were about to give up, they looked over and noticed a Growlithe casually wandering past.

It was at this point that they leapt out from behind the shrubs and attacked.

"**Wartortle! Use Water Gun!**"

Wartortle then unleashed another long torrent of water from it's mouth, dealing more than enough damage to the Growlithe, thanks to type advantage and the element of surprise.

As the Growlithe recoiled from the shock, Ryan whipped out and empty pokeball.

"**Go! Pokeball!**"

Ryan threw the pokeball, where it then hit the Growlithe on its middle, causing the ball to open.

In it went.

It then fell to the ground and wobbled around for a short while.

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_CLICK!_

Ryan beamed happily as he picked up the pokeball.

"Right. Castelia City?" He asked.

"Castelia City" the others replied.

However, just as they began to leave, Ryan noticed a shady looking individual leaning against one of the building, wearing a big trench coat and an equally big trilby.

"What's wrong?" Asked May.

"See that guy over there? Something tells me he's not here to catch Pokémon" He said, concerned.

The shady looking individual then stopped leaning on the wall and slowly began walking over to them.

"We'd best be going" Ryan said to his friends.

They began walking out of the complex and towards the docks, where they could catch a boat to Castalia City.

However, as Ryan looked behind him, he saw the shady figure following them.

"He's following us. We'd better pick up the pace" He whispered to them.

As they picked up speed, they walked past the Pokémon centre.

They then noticed that two more equally shady people were walking out and joining up with the first man.

The trio of trainers saw this and rapidly broke into a run.

However, as they sprinted towards the docks, they found their path blocked by three more men.

They couldn't jump down the side roads either. They were also blocked off.

The trio soon found themselves encircled by men.

"Okay, I know this looks bad, but can we just talk about this without having to resort to violence?" Ryan asked the men.

"Violence won't be necessary, my dear" Came a voice from behind the men.

Ryan's blood ran cold. He recognised that voice immediately.

As the men parted, Lucy and his parents walked into the circle, tailed by a Ninetales and a Piplup.

All three were dressed smartle, with Lucy wearing a pure white wedding dress.

"Hello Lucy". Ryan said sourly. "Hello Mum and Dad. I had a feeling that you guys would have something to do with this".

He looked down at the Piplup.

"What's with the Piplup?"

"Why it's your new Pokémon. Here to replace that unsightly Wartortle of yours" Lucy explained.

Wartorle began to get angry.

"Over my dead body" Ryan spat.

"Now, there's no need to be like that" Ryan's dad interjected. "Your mother and I just want what's best for you".

His mother then looked at Brendan and May.

"Firstly, I must commemorate you two for helping Ryan out on this part of his journey. Travelling with a league champion must've taught him a lot. However, if you would be so kind as to hand him over to us, then we'll let you be on your way".

Brendan stayed silent for a moment.

"How about no" he said. "From what this young lad has told us, going off with Lucy would be the worst thing ever. So quite frankly, for his sake, he's sticking with us".

Lucy gave Ryan an icy glare.

"Now look, what Ryan's told you is nothing more than the over-exaggerated viewpoint of a teenager" Ryan's Mum countered. "Besides, he's our son and he has certain family commitments to fill".

"Listen, Lady!" Brendan snapped. "I don't care what kind of "commitments" your son has to fulfil. Quite frankly, we're sticking with him. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Regardless, Ryan will be heading off to Castelia City to challenge his 3rd Pokémon gym."

"You know, we could very easily get you two done for abduction if you don't give him back to us" Ryan's father countered.

It was at this point that May snapped.

"RIGHT! THAT DOES IT!" She screamed, whipping out three pokeballs.

"**BLAZIKEN! MANECTRIC! LUDICOLO! LET'S DO THIS!**"

Brendan followed this up by whipping out three pokeballs of his own.

"**SCEPTILE! BRELOOM! MIGHTYENA! YOU TOO!**"

The men responded by bringing out various Crobats, Muks, Liepards and Sevipers.

Brendan and May nodded at each other.

"ATTACK!" They both screamed.

Soon, the Virbank dock soon descended into chaos, with Brendan and May trying to protect Ryan from the others.

Ryan also tried to pitch in with his Pokémon, but there was a serious power disadvantage for him.

Then, Brendan pulled out a 4th pokeball.

"**GO! SWELLOW****!**"

Ryan could tell what Brendan was thinking by the look in his eye.

"Swellow, get Ryan and his pokemon out of here! Get them to Castelia City!"

"Swellow!" The bird Pokémon replied as Ryan withdrew his Pokémon and climbed onto its back with Wartortle.

"See you in Castelia City!" May yelled after him.

"Yes. Thank You!" Ryan yelled back.

Without waiting around, Swellow rapidly took off from the dock, with Ryan and Wartortle holding on tightly.

After they were a safe distance away, Ryan let out a loud sigh.

"That was close." He said to the Pokémon.


	8. Burgh

**Chapter 8: Burgh**

Ryan, Wartortle and Swellow soon found themselves touching down on Castelia City's own ship port.

Having just escaped from Lucy, the trio were worn out a little bit.

"Thanks for the help, Swellow" Ryan said to the bird Pokémon.

"Swellow!" It replied happily.

Ryan knew Lucy and his parents would soon be after him again, so he decided to quickly get his Pokémon some rest, challenge Burgh as soon as possible and, if all went to plan, be out of Castelia City before anyone could say "marriage".

As he turned to look out over the water, he could just about make out Virbank City in the distance.

He then spotted two small black shapes in the sky.

As they got closer, Ryan could see that the shapes were his friends, Brendan and May, flying on the backs of May's bird Pokémon, Pelipper and Tropius.

Eventually, they touched down next to Ryan.

May then returned her Pokémon to her pokeballs.

"Thanks, you two. Take a good long rest".

"You too, Swellow" Brendan said to his bird Pokémon, withdrawing it to its pokeball.

"Thanks for the back up, you guys". Ryan said to his friends.

"Don't mention it" replied Brendan. "Now, the way I see it, it won't be long until Lucy and your parents turn up. What I suggest doing is that we quickly head to the Pokémon centre to heal up our Pokémon and grab a bite to eat and then head off to battle Burgh. If they turn up before then, we'll have to lie low until they've gone".

"I like the sound of that".

With that, the three trainers left the port and headed into the nearby Pokémon centre.

They then handed their Pokémon in to Nurse Joy and grabbed a bite to eat.

"So, I was just thinking. You know how there's a Pokémon storage system?" Asked Ryan

"Yes?" Replied May.

"I was wondering. Are there any other Pokémon you two have?"

The two Hoenn trainers pondered this for a few moments.

"Well, I also have a Metang, a Solrock, a Linoone and a Minun back at home" Brendan replied.

"As for me, I also have a Skitty, a Lunatone, an Exploud and a Plusle in the storage system" added May. "Plus, We've also have a couple of legendaries back home as well".

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Cool! Which ones?"

Brendan and May were about to tell him when Nurse Joy called them over to collect their Pokémon.

The trio then left the Pokémon centre and began trying to find their way to the Castelia City Gym.

However, as they turned on to the seafront road, they heard the sound of a familiar voice screaming out "HEY!"

Ryan's temperature plummeted at least 14 degrees Celsius as he recognised that voice.

As he nervously looked behind him, he spotted the all-too blood chilling sight of Lucy storming towards them with a look on her face that said "You'll be sorry you were ever born".

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Screamed Ryan, flailing his arms in fear. "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

Ryan then dashed away from Lucy faster than his legs could carry him, his two friends trailing after him.

As they rounded a corner, they spotted a welcoming glow coming from a building on the right side of the road, emblazoned with the official pokemon gym logo.

The Castelia City Gym.

Without hesitation, they three trainers and Ryan's Wartortle burst through the doors.

They soon found out that the gym was also an artificial biome for bug type Pokémon, so that people could study them.

This also allowed the gym leader, Burgh to paint them.

The three trainers and the Wartortle dived into the undergrowth, obscuring them from view.

As they hid, they heard the sound of the doors to the gym opening, followed by the sound of footsteps running in.

The footsteps ran all around the artificial biome, even running past their hiding place a couple of times.

Soon, the footsteps stopped.

"Damn it! They got away again!" Yelled Lucy.

She then angrily marched out of the gym.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief before jumping out from behind the undergrowth.

And crashing in to Burgh.

"Oww. Sorry about that, Burgh." Ryan groaned, rubbing his head as he helped the gym leader back on to his feet.

"That's alright, young trainer". Burgh replied, rubbing his own head. "Although I have to ask as to why exactly you were hiding in the bushes."

"Oh that? I was just hiding to escape from that psychopathic fiancé of mine" Ryan explained.

As he said this, Brendan, May and Wartortle came out from behind the bushes.

Burgh instantly recognised Brendan.

"OH MY GOD! THE HOENN CHAMPION!" Burgh screamed with delight as he proceeded to madly shake Brendan's hand.

"Erm. G-Glad to meet you Burgh" Brendan replied nervously. "Can I please have my hand back?"

Burgh soon released Brendan's hand.

"Are you here to battle me? Please tell me you're here to battle me! I would be an honour to battle with the Hoenn Champion!"

Brendan then proceeded to facepalm.

"For the third time! No, I'm not here to..." He began ranting before he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"Sorry, Burgh, but I'm not here to challenge you." He said before putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Ryan, here, has just arrived here off the back of getting his second gym badge. He's the one who's here to challenge you".

Burgh looked Ryan up and down.

Then, he grinned.

"Alright then. I accept your challenge, Ryan. Now, follow me please".

Burgh lead the group through another set of doors on the other side of the room.

On the other side of the doors was another artificially made biome for bug type Pokémon, except this time, there was a Pokémon battlefield carved into the ground.

Ryan and his Wartortle took their positions at one side of the field, whilst Burgh took his position at the other side of it.

May acted as the referee for this match.

Burgh then produced his first pokeball.

"**Go! Swadloon!**"

As Burgh's Swadloon appeared on the opposite end of the battlefield, Ryan considered which Pokémon to use.

Almost instantly, though, he knew which one to use.

"**Go! Growlithe!**"

Immediately, Ryan was on the attack.

"**Growlithe! Use ember!**"

Ryan's Growlithe then unleashed a torrent of small flames from its mouth, hitting the Swadloon before it and Burgh could even react.

Whilst the ember attack had inflicted heavy damage on the Swadloon, it somehow managed to hang on.

"**Quick, Swadloon! Use String shot!**"

Burgh's swadloon then launched a string of silk from it's mouth.

"**Counter it with Ember!**"

Growlithe then unleashed another ember attack, preventing the string from reaching it.

When the string eventually stopped, this allowed Growlithe to be able to land another successful round of ember.

This time, however, when the smoke cleared, Swadloon was out cold.

"Swadloon is unable to battle. Growlithe wins!" Declared May.

"Yes! Great job, Growlithe" Ryan said to his Growlithe

"Growwwwwwwwwlite!" it howled in return.

Burgh returned Swadloon to its ball.

"You tried your best, Swadloon" he said before producing another pokeball.

"**Go! Dwebble!**"

"**Same as before, Growlithe! Use Ember!**"

"**Dwebble! Counter with Smack Down!**"

As Dwebble leapt into the air, Growlithe launched another round of ember at the other Pokémon.

This time, however, Dwebble defended itself by pointing its shell towards the oncoming attack, massively reducing the amount of damage the attack dealt.

It then finished off the attack by hitting Growlithe with its shell, causing massive damage.

Despite reeling from the massiv edamage it received, Growlithe retaliated almost immediately with another Ember attack.

This time, Dwebble couldn't move fast enough to block the attack with its shell, allowing the attack to land and cause heavy damage.

"**Now use Bite!**"

Growlithe raced towards Dwebble, its fangs bared.

This was exactly what Burgh needed.

"**Smack Down once more!**"

Suddenly, Dwebble leapt up off the ground and came slamming back down on Growlithe with its shell.

This was more than enough to knock out Growlithe this time.

"Growlithe is unable to battle. Dwebble wins!" Declared May.

Ryan withdrew the unconscious Growlithe into its pokeball.

"You did good, buddy. Take a rest".

He then looked over to Wartortle.

"Go for it, buddy". He said.

"Wartortle!" His friends yelled as he ran onto the battlefield.

"**Okay, Wartortle! Use Water Gun!**"

Wartortle then unleashed a long torrent of water at the Dwebble before it had time to react, sending it flying in to the wall.

Much to their surprise, this was just about enough to render Dwebble unconscious.

"Dwebble is unable to battle! Wartortle wins!" Declared May.

"Yes! Great job! Just one more to go!" Ryan said happily to his friend.

Burgh withdrew Dwebble to its pokeball.

"You were amazing out there, my friend. You deserve a break".

He then produced his third and final pokeball.

"**Leavanny! Come on out!**"

Ryan decided to stick with Wartortle.

"**Wartortle! Bite!**"

"**Leavanny! Razor Leaf!**"

As Wartortle began charging towards Leavanny, it launched a few leaves at it.

Wartortle simply dodged out of the way of each one and carried on.

Eventually, Wartortle clamped it's jaws down on Leavanny, dealing significant damage.

"**Leavanny! String shot!**"

Much to Wartortle's surprise, Leavanny then launched a long trail of string at it, covering it in lots of thick, sticky silk and preventing it from moving.

"**Now use Razor Leaf!**"

Leavanny then began launching dozens of leaves at the immobilized Pokémon.

Wartortle never stood a chance.

Once the string eventually broke, Wartortle fell to the ground, out cold.

"Wartortle, No!" Ryan cried out, rushing over to his unconscious friend.

"Wartortle is unable to battle! Leavanny wins!" Declared May.

"Excellent work, Leavanny" Burgh said to his Pokémon.

Ryan cleared some of the extra string off Wartortle and lifted him up.

"Sorry, buddy. My bad. You did great, though". He said.

He then took Wartortle off the field and handed him to Brendan.

He then returned to his end of the battlefield.

He was left with the choice of who to choose next: Pachirisu or Riolu?

He knew Leavanny was both grass and bug type. He also knew that electric attacks weren't very effective against grass types and fighting attacks were weak against bug types.

He decided to take a gamble as he pulled out his 3rd pokeball.

"**Riolu! Go for it!**"

As Riolu came out of its ball, Ryan formulated a plan.

"Okay, Riolu. I'm going to hang back this time. Do what you have to do, but please try and win this". Ryan instructed to Riolu.

Riolu nodded. He knew what Ryan was planning.

Almost immediately, Riolu took off at incredible speed, striking the Leavanny with Quick Attack.

"**Use String Shot!**"

Leavanny tried to land a String Shot attack on Riolu, but the emanation Pokémon simply dodged out of the way by travelling in zigzags before landing another quick attack.

Each time Leavanny tried to land an attack, Riolu simply dodged and attacked at lightning speed. In fact, Riolu's attacks were slowly getting faster. Very soon, Leavanny couldn't even get a chance to attack as it was being bombarded by quick attacks.

Riolu eventually came to a stop just in front of the battered Leavanny.

It then lifted up one of it's paws to point at its head.

Suddenly, an enormous amount of energy burst out of Riolu's paw, inflicting damage onto Leavanny.

Force Palm.

Once the force Palm attack ceased, the two Pokémon stood facing each other, completely still before, finally, Leavanny toppled over.

It had fainted.

"Leavanny is unable to battle! Riolu wins, which means the victor is the challenger: Ryan!" May declared.

"Yes! Fantastic job, Riolu!" Ryan called out to his Pokémon, giving it a high five.

Burgh returned his Leavanny to its ball.

"Thank you Leavanny. You did good".

He then approached Ryan.

"I must say, that was possibly one of the best battles I've ever had with a trainer. Only the best trainers are able to put the battle fully in the hands of their Pokémon, but you pulled it off easily. Anyway, it is my privilege to present to you your own insect badge" The gym leader said happily before handing his challenger an insect badge.

"Thanks Burgh" Ryan replied, shaking his hand and placing the badge in his badge case.

"Now then, the next gym battle for you should probably be in Nimbasa City. The pokemon there are strong, so be ready. Oh, and tell Elesa I said hi."

"We will. Thanks and goodbye".

The three trainers then headed out of the gym and towards the Pokémon centre, with Ryan carrying his unconscious Wartortle.

* * *

Once his Pokémon had been healed, Ryan had shared a big hug with Wartortle.

"Now, Nimbasa City?" Ryan asked.

"Nimbasa City" Brendan replied.

They began walking out the doors.

Just then, however, Brendan's Xtransceiver began ringing.

"Hello?" Brendan asked, answering it.

It was Steven.

"Brendan. Thank god you answered".

"Steven, is something wrong?"

"Something is very wrong. A group of people have taken control of the Mossdeep space centre and have taken the people inside hostage. Plus they're threatening to start killing the hostages unless we give them what they want. They're asking for something called the "Griseous Orb".

"Who are these people?"

"I don't know. They're calling themselves Team Galactic."

Ryan's ears pricked up.

Team Galactic operating in the Hoenn Region? That was new.

"I've heard about them. Lucas defeated them a few years ago".

"Oh yeah. That's right. Anyway, myself and a few other trainers are about to storm the place and save the hostages. Wallace is on his way, but we're going to need more help".

"We'll be on our way" May answered. "In the meantime, try and contact Lucas".

"On it". Steven replied before hanging up.

Brendan and May then dashed to the nearby PC, withdrawing two ultra balls from storage before rushing out of the Pokémon centre with Ryan tailing after them.

Brendan and May turned to Ryan.

"Sorry to have to cut our journey short, but they need our help". May said.

"It's okay. Their lives are more important than mine". Ryan replied.

"Good luck for the rest of your journey, my friend" Brendan said, he and May giving Ryan a handshake.

"Likewise. Thank you for everything".

The two trainers then turned around and threw their ultra balls into the air.

"**Latios! Come on out!**"

"**You two, Latias!"**

As the two eon Pokémon appeared, Ryan was left standing in shock and amazement.

These were the legendary Pokémon they'd told him about.

As Brendan climbed onto the back of Latios, May climbed onto the back of Latias.

They both turned back to look at Ryan.

"See you soon, Ryan".

"Yeah. See you around".

They then turned back to their Pokémon.

"TO THE MOSSDEEP SPACE CENTRE!" Yelled Brendan.

With that, they took off into the night sky.

Ryan and Wartortle just stood their in awe for a few moments before Ryan eventually broke the silece with one word.

"Wow".

He then looked down at his partner.

"Come on then, buddy. We'll have a rest when we get to Nimbasa City".

The duo then began to head along one of the roads leading out of Castelia City.

"THERE THEY ARE!" Screeched a voice behind them.

Ryan just simply sighed before looking behind him.

Lucy, his parents and some more men in big trench coats were running towards them.

Ryan looked at his partner before saying one word.

"Run!"

The duo then began sprinting out of Nimbasa City, not looking back.

"Nimbasa City, here we come!" Ryan thought proudly.


	9. Old Friends, New Adventures

**Chapter 9: Old Friends, New Adventures**

Ryan and Wartortle came steaming out of Castelia City and along Route 4, with Lucy, his parents and a bunch of shady trench coat wearing people in hot pursuit.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH YOU RUN, RYAN!" Screamed Lucy. "YOU WILL BE MINE!"

"NEVER!" Replied Ryan, defiantly. "NOT EVEN IF I DEFEAT THE UNOVA LEAGUE."

"YOU'LL NEVER WIN THE UNOVA LEAGUE WITH THAT UNSIGHTLY POKEMON OF YOURS"

This made Wartortle angry.

"Don't worry, mate. We can lose these guys". Ryan reassured him.

As he said this, he spotted a turnoff on the road ahead.

He remembered that whilst the road straight ahead lead to Nimbasa City, the road on his left lead to the Desert Resort.

"Perhaps we could lose them there" Ryan thought to himself.

Ryan and Wartortle then dived down the road on their left, with the others still following him.

As they drew closer to the Desert resort, a sandstorm started to pick up.

They decided to keep running, shielding their faces from the sand with their arms.

As the duo eventually reached the desert resort, Ryan had an idea.

"Quick. Into the sand" Ryan said to Wartortle.

The duo then dug into the sand, laid down and then covered their backs with the sand, essentially camouflaging them from view.

They didn't dare move an inch as they heard the sound of footsteps getting close to them.

For a few moments, there was only the sound of rushing wind.

"I think they got away again." Said his Dad.

This was followed by an angry yell from Lucy.

"Don't worry, my dear. We'll get them" said his mother.

Ryan then heard the sounds of footsteps heading away from them.

He waited until the footstep sounds had stopped, then he poked his head out of the sand.

They'd gone.

"It's okay. They're gone now." he said to Wartortle.

The duo then climbed out of the sand, brushed themselves off and gave each other a small high-five.

"Right then. Nimbasa City". He said as they began to make their way out of the Desert Resort.

Just then, however, something sharp bit one of Ryan's left foot, causing him to yelp in pain.

As Ryan nursed his foot, he looked down at what had bitten him.

A Trapinch was staring up at him.

Ryan whipped out his pokedex.

_Trapinch_

_The ant pit Pokémon_

_It makes an inescapable conical pit and lies in wait at the bottom for prey to come tumbling down._

_Level: 21_

_Known Moves:_

_Bulldoze_

_Bide_

_Mud-slap_

_Sand Tomb_

_Ability:_

_Hyper Cutter_

"If I remember correctly, Trapinch is a ground type pokemon, which could be incredibly handy at the next gym" Ryan thought to himself.

However, when he looked up from his pokedex, he noticed that Trapinch had begun wandering off.

"Oh no you don't" Ryan said, pocketing his pokedex. "**Wartortle! Water Gun!**"

Wartortle then launched a long torrent of water at the trapinch, inflicting a massive amount of damage and catching it off guard, even sending it flying backwards.

Ryan then whipped out an empty pokeball.

"**Now, go pokeball!**"

As the pokeball flew through the air, it bumped against Trapinch's jaws.

As it opened, it took in Trapinch before falling to the ground.

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_Vwoop_

_CLICK!_

"Well, that wasn't so hard" Ryan said happily to himself as he pocketed the pokeball. "Welcome aboard, Trapinch".

He and his Pokémon then made their way out of the desert resort, giving each other another celebratory high-five for their newest catch.

however, as they made their way out of the sandstorm, they could just about make out a figure in the dust.

At first, they feared that Lucy had come back. However, they eventually saw that it was a boy, just about the same age as Ryan, walking into the dust. The boy had short blonde hair, hazel eyes and was wearing a red and black checked trainer jacket with jeans and trainers.

He was travelling alongside a girl with long brown hair, green eyes and was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a black skirt.

Both had bags slung over their shoulders.

A huge smile spread across Ryan's face as he recognised them.

Jason and Selina.

His childhood friends.

"JASON! SELINA!" He called out to them.

The two trainers looked over to see where the voice was coming from.

As they spotted Ryan, huge smiles spread across their faces.

The three trainers then rushed at each other, enveloping each other in a massive hug.

"Guys, it's great to see you again after all this time". Ryan said happily as they broke the hug.

"Same here" Replied Jason.

He then looked down at Wartortle.

"Oh, sweet. Your Squirtle evolved".

"Sure did. It evolved during our battle against Roxie".

"Speaking of which, is it true?" Asked Selina.

"What?"

"That you were travelling with the Hoenn Champion?"

"Yes. Yes it was."

"You have no idea how jealous the two of us are!"

"I'll tell you all about it, but right now I think it would be best if we got out of this sandstorm".

"Good idea".

* * *

The trio of trainer soon found themselves sitting on the side of Route 4, discussing their travels.

"So tell us how you met up with Brendan and May".

"Well, it all started when I ran away from home".

"Wait.. You ran away from home?! Why?"

"Well, I'd made an agreement with my parents to get married before I headed off on my journey so I could have a more secure future. They eventually hooked me up with a girl called Lucy. Now, to begin with, she was quite a sweet girl. However, soon after our marriage was announced, she began to become more controlling and possessive, trying to change me into a "true gentleman". But what really got me riled was that she wanted to get rid of my Squirtle in favour of a Piplup".

"That's awful. No wonder you ran away".

"Didn't your parents know about this?"

"I tried to reason with them, but there was nothing they could do. So, on the eve of my wedding, I opted to run away with Squirtle and begin my adventure early. However, once we'd made it past the gate, we were attacked by a horde of angry Sewaddle. We tried to make a break for it, but the Sewaddle managed to knock Squirtle out and wrap the two of us up in silk. However, as I began to pass out, Brendan and May showed up, drove off the horde and got the two of us to the nearest Pokémon centre. From there, the rest was history. Now, however, they've gone back to the Hoenn Region as part of an urgent rescue mission".

Jason was looking out into space.

"Jason, are you okay?"

"Huh? What? Oh, I'm fine thanks. I was just remembering the first Pokémon battle we had". He said.

"Oh, I remember that". Ryan said happily.

* * *

_Two years ago_

Ryan, Jason and Selina were busy playing on their Nintendo Wii on the massive TV in the living room of Jason's house.

It was the last day before Jason and his family moved off to Ecruteak City in the Johto Region with Selina and her parents so the two boys were trying to get in as much as possible before then.

At this moment in time, they were busy having an intense game of Mario Kart, with all three of them fighting for the lead around Rainbow Road., with Squirtle eagerly watching.

As they crossed the finish line, Jason was first, Selina was second and Ryan was a distant third.

He wasn't that good at Mario Kart.

Jason, however, was satisfied with his win.

Then, he had an idea.

"Hey Ryan, seeing as this is the last day we'll be able to meet like this for a while, how about we have a Pokémon battle? Your Squirtle against one of my Pokémon?"

Ryan thought about this for a moment.

"Challenge accepted". He replied.

The three teenagers then headed out into the garden with Ryan and Jason taking opposite ends of the garden, with Selina watching.

Jason then produced a pokeball.

"**Machop! Your time is now!**"

The two Pokémon stood opposite each other, determined to win.

"**Okay Squirtle, Use Tackle!**"

"**Counter with Low Kick!**"

As Machop attempted to knock Squirtle off it's feet with a Low Kick, Squirtle leapt up and landed the tackle on Machop's face.

And that's how the battle continued: both Pokémon fighting hard, landing attack after attack on each other.

Their parents were even watching eagerly, making bets on who would win.

Finally, after much hard fighting, Squirtle managed to land one final Tackle attack on Machop, knocking it out.

"Yeah! Great job, Squirtle!" Ryan yelled happily as he scooped up his Squirtle and embraced him happily.

"Squirtle Squirt!" His friend replied.

"You fought hard, Machop. You deserve a rest" Jason said, returning Machop to it's pokeball.

He then went up to Ryan and Squirtle.

"Thanks for the great battle, mate" He said, shaking Ryan's hand.

"Don't mention it". Ryan replied.

* * *

When it was time for Ryan and his parents to leave, he, Jason and Selina were standing on Jason's front doorstep.

"Well, my friends, this is it. This will be the last time we'll see each other at this place. Possibly, even, the last time in a year or two".

"Don't worry. We will see each other again at some point".

"yeah. Until then, good luck in Ecruteak City".

The three friends then all embraced.

As they broke the hug, Ryan and Squirtle then climbed into their waiting car.

As they got in, did up their seatbelts and shut the door, they rolled down their window.

"Farewell, you two". Ryan called to them.

"Likewise, Ryan. Farewell".

As the car began to pull away from the driveway, the three friends waved to each other.

Once they'd left the driveway, a lone tear fell down Ryan's face.

"Don't worry about them, Ryan". His mom had said to him. "Selina's right. You'll meet again eventually".

* * *

_Present Day_

"So, why exactly are you over here in Unova, anyway?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, we're on our travels around the world. On our way here, we decided to drop by and give you a pleasant surprise. We didn't know that you were travelling with the Hoenn Champion until we docked in Undella Town". Selina replied.

"Hey Ryan. How about we have a battle. You know, for old times sake?" Jason asked.

Ryan looked over at Wartortle, who was half asleep by this point.

"No thanks, Jason. We've been travelling non-stop for most of the day, so we need to catch a few z's when we get to Nimbasa City".

"Hey, how about we travel with you? It's been years since we last saw each other, so why not make up for it by coming with you on your journey?"

Ryan thought about this for a moment.

"Okay then".

With that, the three trainers picked themselves up off the ground, with Ryan carrying Wartortle to their next stop.

Nimbasa City.


	10. Sound of The Underground

**Chapter 10: Sound Of The Underground**

The three trainers soon arrived in Nimbasa City, where they immediately headed to the Pokémon centre.

Once Ryan had healed his Pokémon, the trio checked in to one of the centre's bedrooms and changed into their Pyjamas.

Ryan then flopped down on his bed, completely shattered.

"It feels good to finally catch a breather" He sighed.

"Hey Ryan, can we see your other Pokémon please?" Asked Jason "We'll show you ours".

"Very well then". Replied Ryan as he went for his pokeballs.

"**Come on out, everyone!**"

Ryan then released Riolu, Pachirisu, Growlithe and his newly caught Trapinch.

"Nice collection you have there" Selina commented.

She and Jason then went for their balls.

"**Team, come on out!**"

"**You guys too!**"

Jason released a Machoke, an Ariados, and a Buizel.

Selina released a Froslass, a Delcatty and a Cinccino.

"I assume you caught most of these Pokémon on your travels"

"We did indeed".

"Ah. A very nice array of Pokémon on both your teams. Now I don't know about you, but I really need some shut-eye".

"Yeah. Same here"

The trio returned their Pokémon to their pokeballs before climbing into their bunk beds. Jason and Selina shared one of the bunk beds. Ryan slept in the bottom bunk of the other, whilst Wartortle slept in the bed on the top bunk, sleeping in its shell.

"Night guys" Ryan called out to them as he flicked off the light switch.

"Yeah. Goodnight".

* * *

When the crew eventually awoke, it was still very early in the morning, with the sunlight shining through the curtains.

Still in their Pyjamas, they went and grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast. The crew also opened a few tins of food for their Pokémon.

As they sat there eating their breakfast, their attention was caught by the television on the wall.

On TV, a show called "TrainerNow!" was being broadcasted.

It was one of the most popular shows in the world.

"Now, over to the Unova Region, where one young trainer has been starting to make a name for himself in the trainer community" Said the presenter. "The trainer in question is none other than Ryan from Floccesy Town. Having originally been brought to the local Pokémon centre after coming under attack from Sewaddle, Ryan has recently become famous for his unique and unconventional battle style, which included combining moves and allowing the Pokémon to do what they wanted in battle. Whilst indeed unconventional, it has proved very successful, winning Ryan three gym badges so far and is believed to be on his way to Nimbasa City to battle Elesa for his fourth. We caught up with Roxie to hear what she though about the young trainer and his battling style".

The show then cut to the Virbank City gym. The presenter was interviewing Roxie.

"So Roxie, tell us about your battle with Ryan."

"Well, It started with me sending out my Koffing and him sending out his Pachirisu..."

"Oh! So he has a Pachirisu".

"...Yes. Anyway, we did manage to poison the Pachirisu, but that didn't stop Pachirisu knocking out Koffing with a Volt Tackle".

"It was at this point that you sent out Whirlipede, right?"

"Right. Anyway, Whirlipede was more than a match for Pachirisu, but this was mainly helped by Pachirisu's poisoning. After that, Ryan then sent out his Squirtle. Fortunately for us, we were able to inflict heavy damage onto it. However, ryan received a stroke of luck when Squirtle evoled into Wartortle halfway through the battle".

"Then what happened?"

"Well, he got Wartortle to withdraw into it's shell. Then, he told Wartortle to use Water Gun, but pointing away from Whirlipede. This, basically turned Wartortle's shell into a ballistic missile. Whirlipede tried to move out of the way, but Wartortle just simply redirected its shell. Eventually this was more than enough to knock out Whirlipede and hand Ryan and his Pokémon the victory".

"What are your thoughts on his unconventional battle style, seeing as this is apparently what also allowed his victory against Burgh?"

"Well...Wait. He defeated Burgh already? Wow. He's better than I thought. Anyway, whilst his style is indeed unique, it gives him an edge over the others, so there's no faulting that. It's a kind of...insane genius...that Ryan has got going on".

"Finally, there are some who are currently tipping Ryan as one who may eventually go on to defeat the Unova League. what are your thoughts?"

"Well, I can't give a definitive answer to that, but he and his Pokémon certainly have potential".

The presenter then turned to the camera.

"Well, you've heard it hear, folks. This young kid from Floccesy Town might just go on to become the next Unova Champion. To Ryan, I say this: Wherever you are, good luck".

Ryan and Wartortle shared a high-five.

"Wow. You're receiving critical acclaim already. Good job, mate" Jason said, giving Ryan a fist bump.

"I just hope that nothing bad happens. With all this growing attention, you're bound to attract the attention of a few shady individuals". Selina told Ryan, concerned.

"Don't worry about it, Selina" Ryan reassured her. "Aside from Team Plasma, this part of the world has actually been quite peaceful for the last few years. What could possibly happen now?"

As if on cue, the peace of Nimbasa City was disrupted by an earth shaking explosion coming from the battle subway, just across the road.

Everyone in the Pokémon centre rushed over to the windows to see what was going on.

They saw a large group of black-clad, shady looking people filing in through the blasted down doorways of the battle subway, followed by various Golbats and Grimers.

The trio of trainers eventually realised who they were when they noticed that on the clothing of the group, there was a big letter R.

Team Rocket.

The trio's blood began to boil.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Selina.

"If what you're thinking includes stopping Team Rocket from carrying out whatever dastardly scheme they've planned, then yes". Replied Jason.

"Same here" Added Ryan.

"Let's do this"

The trio and their Pokémon came rushing out of the Pokémon centre to face the Rocket grunts.

"HEY!" Screeched Selina.

This successfully caught the attention of the grunts that hadn't headed into the subway.

"What do you kids want?" Snapped one of the grunts.

"Now, I don't know what you lot are up to, but quite frankly, I don't care. All I can say is that the likes of you aren't welcome in Nimbasa City. Stop whatever plan you intend to pull off and leave now, or be prepared to fight".

The Rocket Grunts just simply burst out laughing.

"Please. We're the finest criminal organisation in the business" Another grunt replied. "I'd suggest going away before even considering battling us. Besides, there's many of us, but only three of you".

"MAKE THAT FOUR!" Came a voice from behind them. "**Gengar! Confuse Ray!**"

A sinister ray was then exposed to the grunts and their Pokémon, sending them into a confused state, almost like they were on drugs.

The trio could soon see who had called out to them, as a young Pokémon trainer and his Gengar make their way past the grunts.

The trainer in question looked a little bit older than Ryan. He was wearing a dark blue and red jacket, with matching blue trousers and matching blue and red trainers. The red on his jacket and trainers matched the red hair on his head.

"Are you three alright?" Asked the trainer as he went over to them.

"Uh, yeah. Fine thanks" Replied Jason.

Just then, two more young trainers, a male and a female, came running round the corner.

"You've got to stop running off like that, Silver" The female trainer said to the first trainer.

Whilst Ryan failed to recognise the female trainer, he instantly recognised the male trainer.

The male trainer looked about the same age as Silver. He was wearing a crimson jacket, black short, red and white trainers and a black and yellow cap backwards on his head, allowing some of his dark hair to hang out.

"OH MY GOD! I KNOW YOU! YOU'RE ETHAN! THE INDIGO LEAGUE CHAMPION! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Ryan screamed with excitement, fanboying all over the place.

Jason and Selina were pretty surprised as well.

"Um, yeah" Ethan began. "So hi, I'm Ethan. Nice to meet you. These guys are Silver and Lyra".

"Hi".

"Hello".

"I'm Ryan" Ryan replied, eventually calming down. "These guys are my friends: Jason and Selina".

"Hello there".

"Hi!"

"Now then, I take it from the way Silver attacked those grunts over there that you've been on the trail of Team Rocket".

"Exactly. Ever since we heard that a surviving strand of Team Rocket had arrived on the shores of Unova, we've been working nonstop to take them down".

"We'd actually just arrived here when we heard the explosion".

"What is it that Team Rocket want in the battle subway?"

"That's what we're trying to find out".

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, you guys, but we still need to take down Team Rocket".

"Can't we help?"

"What?"

"We want to help. We hate Team rocket as much as you guys, so we'd gladly help take them down".

The three Johto trainers pondered this for a minute.

"Alright then. You can help" Ethan said to them. "Now, the way I see it, we need to attack on two fronts, so we need to split up. Silver and I will attack through the front with Ryan. Lyra, Jason and Selina, you three attack via the maintenance tunnel. Everyone ready?"

"READY!"

"Let's get 'em!"

The six trainers then headed off in their separate directions with their Pokémon, with Jason tying up the grunts outside with a String Shot from his Ariados.

"You ready, Ryan?" Asked Silver as they prepared to enter through the front doors.

"Born ready".

As the three trainers entered the building and descended the steps, they were swarmed by enemy Pokémon.

Ryan and his Pokémon immediately retaliated, with Silver's Gengar pitching in.

Growlithe even managed to show that it had learnt Flame Wheel.

This allowed Ethan and Silver to go for some of their extra pokeballs.

"**Typhlosion! Politoed! Beedrill! Come on out!**"

"**Weavile! Magnezone! Feraligatr! You too!**"

Eventually, the group managed to knock the dozens of enemy Pokémon and tie them up with a String Shot from Beedrill.

Ethan then spotted a group of grunts running down one of the subway tunnels.

"There going that way. After them!" He yelled as he and the others took off after them.

At this exact moment, Lyra, Jason and Selina had reached the maintenance tunnel only to find, however, that it had been blocked by rubble from the explosion.

Once they'd cleared the rubble from the tunnel entrance, they came across a maintenance car parked in a nearby siding.

As they all piled in to the car, they found it to have no power.

This was quickly solved by Lyra opening up one of her pokeballs, letting her Flaaffy out.

"**Flaffy! Use Charge!**"

The maintenance cart then took off down the tunnel, with Jason at the controls.

As they flew down the tunnel, they were ambushed by more Rocket grunts and their Pokémon.

However, the team quickly put them down with attacks from their own pokemon.

"**Ariados! String Shot!**"

"**Froslass! Blizzard!**"

These attacks both wrapped up the enemy grunts and their Pokémon in silk and froze them in ice.

Further in the tunnel, Ethan, Ryan and Silver were catching up to the grunts that were running away from them.

Soon, however, they spotted a strange glowing blue light deeper in the tunnel, which was getting brighter the closer they got to it.

Eventually, as they got closer to the grunts, they could see where the light was coming from.

Sitting in the middle of the tracks was a strange device with a computer hooked up to it, surrounded by rocket grunts.

Locked inside the device was a small pokemon with an orange body and surrounded entirely by plasma.

Rotom

"Well well. It appears the Indigo Champion has decided to grace us with his presence" Remarked the leader of the grunts, a strange looking man with purple hair.

"I don't know what you're planning Petrel, but I'm not down with it one bit" Declared Ethan. "Release Rotom and we might just go easy on you!"

"Such a bad choice of words" Petrel chuckled as he hit a button on the computer.

A timer began to count down from ten minutes.

Rotom then began screeching in pain.

"RETREAT!" Roared Petrel as he and the grunts began to evacuate the tunnel.

"Oh no you don't! **Gengar! Confuse Ray!**"

Gengar then sent another sinister looking ray at the Rocket Grunts, causing them to fall down in a drug-like state.

Jason, Selina and Lyra then arrived in the maintenance car.

"Sorry we're late. We ran into some more grunts back there" Lyra called to them.

"Don't worry about that!" Ethan replied "Right now, we have to deactivate this damn device!"

The whole team then began trying desperately to stop the device from counting down and rescue Rotom, but without much luck. Even Jason's Machoke couldn't break through Rotom's prison.

"Trap! Trap!" Yelled out Trapinch.

"What is it, Trapinch?"

"Trapinch! Trap!"

"Hey guys, I think Trapinch might be on to something".

The team then took a step back to see what Trapinch was going to do.

As they watched, a thin layer of white energy appeared around both Trapinch and a section of ceiling above the device.

Ryan realised what Trapinch was doing.

"That's Rock Slide! Everyone back!"

As the team took another few steps back, the whole section of the ceiling became detached from the rest of the ceiling and fell onto the device and kicking up a whole cloud of dust.

As the dust cleared, they heard the sound of a device deactivating.

The Rotom then squeezed through a hole in the rubble and flew away, with the team releasing one collective sigh of relief.

* * *

It wasn't too long before the police eventually showed up and took both the grunts and the device into custody.

The six trainers had arrived outside the battle subway to a hero's welcome.

Whilst Lyra stayed with the police to give them information on the situation, the others were talking with each other.

"It's strange, you know".

"What is?"

"First, Team Aqua and Team Plasma show up at Pokestar Studios, then Team Galactic attack the Mossdeep Space Centre, now this".

"Why do I get the impression that they're connected somehow?"

"I can't blame you for thinking that".

Just then, Lyra came over to the group.

"I just found out something interesting from the police. You know how we thought that device was a bomb?"

"Yes".

"Well, it turns out, it was indeed a bomb, but it wasn't lethal. However, it would've been no less devastating".

"What kind of bomb was it?"

"According to them, it is called a Tech Bomb. Basically, it is designed to shut off all electrical devices within it's blast radius for a 24-hour period".

"How big would the blast radius have been?"

"It's just an estimate, but they say it would've been enough to temporarily shut down the entire Unova Region".

This shocked the group.

"Knowing Team Rocket, this probably won't be the last attack of this nature".

"Don't worry. We'll look into it".

"Thanks for the help, you three".

"Don't mention it".

"See you!"

"Yeah, see you!"

The three Johto trainers then headed off, still on the hunt for Team Rocket.

"Hey wait". Ryan said to his friends. "I've just realised that we went through all that and we're still in our pyjamas".

Jason and Selina looked down at their clothes. They were indeed still wearing their pyjamas.

"We'd better change before heading to the gym" Jason said.

The three trainers then began heading back to the Pokémon centre.

Just then, however, Ryan noticed that something was up.

"Wait. Where's Riolu?" He asked.

He then noticed Riolu was standing next to railing, looking out over the horizon.

"Hey Riolu, are you alright?" Ryan asked his friend.

Riolu looked over at Ryan.

It gave a small grin before nodding.

Then, suddenly, Riolu began to glow brightly.

Ryan and his friends watched and waited as Riolu's body began to change.

Its limbs grew longer, it grew spikes on it's hands, it's ears grew longer and it got taller.

The bright light eventually subsided.

Lucario stood before them.

The three trainers stood there in complete shock.

Ryan eventually brought himself to say three words.

"Oh hell yes".


	11. Elesa

**Chapter 11: Elesa**

The three trainers were soon dressed and ready to head out to the Nimbasa City gym, so Ryan could take on Elesa.

In terms of the battle that was about to ensue, Ryan had mainly pinned his hopes on Trapinch, Growlithe and Lucario to help him win the battle.

However, if it came to the worst, he knew he'd be ready to use Pachirisu and Wartortle.

He, Jason, Selina and his Wartortle soon arrived at the front doors to the Nimbasa City gym.

"Well, let's do this". Ryan said to his friends before marching up to the doors of the gym, grabbing hold of the handles and trying to pull the doors open.

They were locked shut.

"Oh come on!" Yelled Ryan as he gave the doors a few more pulls before giving up.

"Hey, there's a note stuck to the door" Selina said to them as she walked over and began reading it.

_Dear Challengers,_

_I regret to inform you that I will not be able to accept your challenge at the moment, as there is a fashion show currently being held within the gym. Once it is over, however, battling will resume as per usual._

_Sincerely, Elesa._

"Well, that sucks"

"Well, she is a professional model"

"Hey, how about we go and watch it. I've heard it's always good to thing to know what the gym leader is like before you battle them".

"Alrighty then".

The trio then made their way round to one of the side doors and went it.

Inside, it was pitch black, with the exception of the catwalk in the middle of the gym.

The gym itself was filled by the sounds of a pulsing techno beat and dozens of screaming fans.

The trio of trainers pushed their way through the people until they could get a good view of the catwalk.

"Next up is the leader of Nimbasa City gym. The shining beauty herself: Elesa!" called out the announcer.

Sure enough, Elesa soon appeared at one end of the catwalk, greeted by the sound of screaming fans.

She then began making here way down the catwalk, showing off the latest designer dresses.

"Wow! She's so elegant" Selina said, enthralled by the dresses.

"I'm not big in the fashion department, but I'll agree with you on that" Jason added.

"If she battles as good as she looks, then I'm in for a great fight".

Just then, one of the pokeballs on Ryan's belt opened up and Pachirisu appeared.

"Chi Pa!" It yelled out, obviously liking the dresses Elesa was wearing.

This outcry from Pachirisu attracted the attention of a few people around them.

This even managed to get the attention of Elesa herself.

"Is that what I thinkit is?" She cried out happily.

Much to the surprise of everyone, she then leapt off the catwalk and scooped up Pachirisu.

"EEEE!" She squealed happily "Look at this little puff ball! It's so cute!"

Elesa then noticed Ryan.

"I take it this Pachirisu is yours".

"Correct".

"You have no idea how jealous I am! A Pachirisu is such a rare sight in the Unova Region".

She handed the Pachirisu back to Ryan, who returned it to it's ball.

"They are indeed".

Elesa then took a long hard look at Ryan before eventually realising who he was.

"Hey, I know you! You're that kid that people have been talking about recently. I take it you're here for a battle. Am I right?"

"Correct again, Elesa".

"Hmm. I've heard great things about you. Tell you what, once the show has finished, I'll battle you".

"Great. Thank you!"

With that, Elesa then hopped back onto the catwalk and the fashion show continued as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Once the fashion show had eventually finished, some of the spectators began getting ready to leave.

Just then, however, Elesa reappeared on one end of the catwalk.

"Don't go away just yet, everybody!" She called out. "I've got one last thing for you".

She then looked in Ryan's direction.

"Ryan, your time is now".

As Ryan and Wartortle clambered up onto the catwalk, the people began clapping and cheering once they recognised him.

The cameras surrounding the room also zoomed in on him.

"I take it from the reception that you recognise him. Ryan, are you ready to battle?"

"Ready as I'll ever be".

Elesa then pulled out one of her pokeballs.

"**Go! Emolga!**"

As Emolga came out of its pokeball, Ryan had to think about which Pokémon to send out.

"Since Emolga is part Flying Type, that makes it immune to Ground Type attacks, which is mainly what Trapinch has in its arsenal, aside from Rock throw. Also, it being part Flying Type makes it resistant to Fighting Type attacks, which means..."

"**Go! Growlithe!**"

As Growlithe appeared, Elesa wasted no time in getting Emolga to attack.

"**Emolga! Aerial Ace!**"

Emolga then took off, flying at Growlithe, engulfed by streaks of white light.

"**Dodge it, then use Flame Wheel!**"

As Ryan said this, Growlithe leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding Emolga. It then surrounded itself in a giant wheel of flame before slamming back down on the Emolga, causing significant damage to it.

"**Quick! Use Volt Switch!**"

Emolga then landed a powerful jolt of electricity onto Growlithe before disappearing into its pokeball.

Elesa then pulled out another pokeball.

"**Flaaffy! Go for it!**"

Ryan anticipated this.

"**Growlithe! Return!**"

As Growlithe went back into its ball, Ryan took out his second ball.

"**Go! Trapinch!**"

This time, it was Ryan who was immediately on the attack.

"**Trapinch, use Mud Slap!**"

Trapinch then proceeded to launch clump after clump of mud at Flaaffy, causing considerable damage, due to type advantage.

As Flaaffy's HP was whittled away, Ryan went for the finisher.

"**Wrap this up with Bulldoze!**"

Trapinch then proceeded to charge at the dazed Flaaffy, surrounding itself with energy before colliding with it, sending Flaaffy flying high into the wall, knocking it out.

"Flaaffy is unable to battle! Trapinch wins!" Declared the announcer.

"Yes! Great job Trapinch!" Ryan said to his Pokémon.

Elesa withdrew Flaaffy into its ball.

"You looked great out there, my friend" She said before pulling out here second pokeball.

"**Emolga! Come on out again!**"

Ryan reacted to this as well, withdrawing Trapinch into its ball and pulling out another.

"**Growlithe! You're needed again!**"

This part of the battle went just like before.

"**Emolga! Aerial Ace!**"

"**Growlithe! Flame Wheel!**"

The two pokemon then charged at each other once again, each wielding their different attacks, each dealing each other damage.

This time, however, as Growlithe landed, its body coursed with electricity as it was almost frozen stiff.

It had been paralysed.

"**Okay, let's finish this up with Pursuit!**"

The Emolga then launched a powerful Pursuit attack at the paralysed Growlithe.

Despite its best efforts to move, Growlithe couldn't resist its paralysis and soon found itself on the receiving end of Emolga's Pursuit, which proved more than enough to knock Growlithe out.

"Growlithe is unable to battle! Emolga wins!" Declared the announcer.

"You did your best Growlithe. Thank you" Ryan said to Growlithe, returning it to its ball.

This then left Ryan with the tough decision of which Pokémon to send out next.

However, as he did this, he had a brainwave.

"Emolga may be part Electric Type, but it's also part Flying type, which is weak to Electric Type attacks, so..."

He pulled out another pokeball.

"**Go! Pachirisu!**"

Ryan wasted no time in getting Pachirisu to attack.

"**Pachirisu! Electro Ball!**"

Pachirisu focused its stored power to create a ball of electricity on its tail before hurling it at the Emolga.

"**Dodge it, then use Quick Attack!**"

The Emolga then strafed out of the way of the Electro Ball before rapidly diving towards the Pachirisu.

But Ryan anticipated this.

"**Now use Volt Tackle!**"

Pachirisu then began charging at the Emolga, surrounding itself with electricity.

Emolga tried to pull up, but Pachirisu simply leapt up and struck the Emolga hard, sending it spinning into the wall, knocked out.

"Emolga is unable to battle! Pachirisu wins!" Declared the announcer.

"Yeah! Great job Pachirisu!" Ryan said to his Pokémon.

Elesa then returned the Emolga to its ball.

"Thank you, my friend. You fought magnificently".

She then pulled out another ball.

"Okay, last one. **Zebstrika, your turn!**"

Ryan reacted to this as well, quickly withdrawing Pachirisu and pulling out another ball.

"**Go! Trapinch!**"

Ryan wasted no time in getting Trapinch to use its most powerful attack.

"**Use Rock Slide!**"

Elesa countered this with one of Zebstrika's attacks

"**Use Flame Charge!**"

As Trapinch began to make rocks appear above Zebstrika, the thunderbolt Pokémon began charging towards Trapinch, surrounding itself in fire.

Despite its best efforts, Trapinch couldn't land a rock on Zebstrika.

Whilst Trapinch did manage to land a few shots with Mud Slap, this failed to stop Zebstrika from landing its attack.

Much to the surprise of everyone, Trapinch went flying through the air before crashing down, knocked out from the critical hit.

"Trapinch is unable to battle! Zebstrika wins!" Declared the announcer

Ryan, still a bit shocked from the outcome of that skirmish, withdrew Trapinch into its ball.

"Thank you for everything, Trapinch" He said.

"Well, there goes my strategy" He thought to himself, as he began thinking about which of his three remaining Pokémon to use next: Wartortle, Pachirisu or his newly evolved Lucario.

As he came to a decision, he pulled out a third pokeball.

"**Lucario! Go for it!**"

Ryan knew that everything currently hinged on Lucario, so didn't waste time.

"**Quick Attack!**"

"**Flame Charge!**"

The two Pokémon then proceeded to charge at each other. However, just before they impacted, Lucario made the smart decision of leaping out of the way and allowing itself to strike Zebstrika from the side.

Zebstrika tried again, but Lucario managed to strike it with Quick Attack once again.

The next time, however, Zebstrika successfully landed the Flame Charge. Fortunately for Ryan, Lucario was significantly more resilient than Trapinch, so managed to withstand the attack, despite receiving lots of damage.

This then continued for a couple of minutes, with the two Pokémon each whittling away at each other.

However, when Zebstrika managed to land another Flame Charge attack, it was enough to knock Lucario off its feet.

Lucario laid on the ground for a few moments, facing the ground and slowly gathering strength before it eventually began slowly picking itself up. It was beaten and worn, but it wouldn't give in any time soon.

"Hang in there, Lucario. You can do this!" Ryan said to the aura Pokémon.

Lucario nodded, grunting in reply.

However, Ryan noticed that Lucario's paws were coursing with aura energy.

Lucario then bunched up its paws into fists and put them out in front of him, pressed together.

As it pulled them apart, a bone of energy began to form between them.

Once it eventually formed, Lucario held it like a ninja would hold their staff.

Lucario had just learnt Bone Rush.

Ryan, realising what was happening before him, knew what he had to do.

"Lucario, I think you know what you have to do now. Go for it, my friend" He said to Lucario

"Tortle!" Wartortle added.

Lucario nodded, then, still carrying the staff, charged towards the Zebstrika.

"**Zebstrika! Flame Charge once more!**"

Zebstrika surrounded itself with fire once again and charged at Lucario.

However, Lucario had anticipated this. As the two Pokémon met in the middle, Lucario intercepted the Flame Charge by leaping up and striking Zebsrtika in the jaw with its bone before striking it on its head.

Lucario then proceeded to rapidly land strike after strike with its bone, causing even more damage to Zebstrika.

Lucario landed its final hit by sweeping Zebstrika off its feet with the bone.

This was just about enough to knock Zebstrika out.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle!" Declared the announcer. "Lucario wins, which means the victor is the challenger: Ryan!"

With that, the spectators erupted into wild cheering and clapping.

"YES! Great job, buddy!" Ryan yelled happily, sharing a high five with Lucario.

"You were amazing out there, Zebstrika. Take a nice long rest". Elesa said to her Pokémon, withdrawing it into its ball.

She then approached Ryan.

"Ryan, that was possibly the best battle that I've ever had from a challenger for some time. I'd heard good things about you coming in to this, but your performance here today was even better than I thought it was. It is my pleasure and privilege to give to you your own bolt badge". She said as she handed Ryan the badge.

Ryan shook Elesa's hand, thanking her, before holding the badge up for everyone to see before he placed it in his badge case.

"Now, come. Walk with us".

Ryan, Wartortle, Lucario and Elesa then walked back down the catwalk, tailed by more models and waving to the spectators.

"Now then, I guess then next thing for you to do would be to take on Clay at Driftveil City. My advice to you would be to stock up on Pokémon that are strong against Ground Type Pokémon, but you might just be able to smoke his entire team with just your Wartortle if you play your cards right".

"I will. Thank you".

With that, Ryan then stepped through the doors to the gym, where he shared high fives all around with his friends.

* * *

Before they headed off to Driftveil City, the trio of trainers stopped back at the Pokémon centre, so Ryan could heal his Pokémon.

"So, have you considered your strategy for when you battle the Miner King?" Asked Jason.

"Well...Wait. Miner King?"

"That's the nickname people give Clay".

"Oh. Okay. Well I know I'll be taking Wartortle into battle, but aside from that, I have no idea which ones to take".

As Ryan said this, he noticed a man reading a newspaper not too far away. He couldn't make out most of the words on the paper, but he could see the words "_Mossdeep Siege_".

Ryan then thought of something.

He then went up to the counter.

"Excuse me Ma'am?" He asked the nurse "Can I please make a call to the Mossdeep City Pokémon Centre?"

Before long, Ryan was sitting at one of the centre's computers, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

At long last, May answered.

"Oh hey, Ryan! How are you doing?"

"Fine thanks. How are you and Brendan doing?"

Brendan then sat down next to May.

"Fine thanks. So, how's your journey been going?"

"Well, since you two left, I've caught a Trapinch, met up with two of my old friends and we've just got back from defeating Elesa".

"Sounds like your journey has been going great".

"Indeed it has. How've things been in Mossdeep."

"Well, we made the slight mistake of underestimating Team Galactic. It turns out there was more of them than we anticipated. But still, we managed to sort them out in the end".

"Oh, and there's something I've got to tell you two".

"Oh yeah? What might that be?"

"Well, this morning, Team Rocket attacked the battle subway".

"WHAT?! What would Team Rocket want in the Unova Region?"

"Well, it turns out they were trying to detonate a tech bomb in the underground. This would've meant that the whole of the Unova region would have been send into a temporary electronic blackout. Luckily, we managed to stop them, with the help of Ethan, Silver and Lyra".

"Thank god they were there".

"Something doesn't seem quite right, though. First Team Aqua show up, then Team Plasma show up alongside them, then Team Galactic attack the Mossdeep Space Centre, now Team Rocket in Nimbasa City. I get the feeling that they might be connected somehow".

"Hmm. We'd better look into this before it escalates".

"Besides, didn't Team Galactic say they wanted the Griseous orb?"

"Yes. Usually, if people want the griseous orb, Giratina is often involved".

"Exactly. Also, what about the Adamant and Lustrous orbs? Personally, I've got the feeling that Team Galactic may be after those as well".

"We'd definitely better look into this. In the meantime, good luck at your next gym battle".

"Thanks. I'd better get going. Driftveil City awaits. Goodbye".

"Yeah. Goodbye".


	12. Clay

**Chapter 12: Clay**

The team arrived in Driftveil City with Ryan eager to get his fifth gym badge.

However, Ryan also carried a sense of worry with him as well. He remembered that his last gym battle with Elesa had been televised, which meant that maybe Lucy could've seen it, meaning she may have an idea of where he may be, so he seriously had to keep his wits about him, since he didn't know when Lucy would catch up to him.

Thankfully, a night at the Driftveil City Pokémon centre was enough to help him and his Pokémon to relax and allow them to psych up in preparation for the battle.

The following morning, he and his friends woke up, got dressed and had their breakfast before heading out to the Driftveil City gym, so Ryan could take on Clay, the Miner King.

Admittedly, Ryan still wasn't too sure of a strategy, but he knew his best chance of success was with Wartortle.

As the trio of trainers stepped through the doors of the gym, they found a mineshaft elevator waiting for them.

"Let's do this" Ryan said in an epic fashion as he and his friends stepped onto it.

He pushed the button.

Nothing.

Ryan, obviously confused as to why the lift wasn't working, pressed the button again.

Nothing.

Growing agitated, he pressed it a few more times.

Still nothing.

"It must be stuck" Jason said to the others.

"Well, either that or Clay isn't here at the moment" Selina interjected.

"What makes you say that?"

Selina pointed towards a note stuck to one of the doors, one which they'd failed to notice coming into the gym.

The trio read the note.

_Dear Trainers,_

_Sorry to say that the gym is closed at the moment, as I'm currently competing in the Unova Leaders Tournament today. Trainer battles will continue once the tournament is over._

_Sorry for any inconvenience._

_Clay_

"Damn it! That's twice"

"Well, at least he left a note"

"Hmm. Unova Leaders tournament. Where might that be held?"

"If I remember this correctly, there is a giant indoor stadium just down the road where they hold all the tournaments in the Unova Region. In fact, the entire world goes there to see the best trainers battle it out in different tournamants".

"Sounds interesting. How about we check it out?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me".

* * *

As the team arrived at the Pokémon World tournament stadium complex, they found that the Unova Leaders tournament was more popular than they thought.

Everywhere they looked, the place was bustling with people.

Also, people who couldn't get a place in the stadium were watching the tournament unfold on various large screens.

As the trio stepped into the stadium lobby, they found more of the same.

The spectators were busy watching the final match of the Unova Leaders tournament unfold: Cheren VS Drayden. Cheren was battling with a Stoutland, whilst Drayden was battling with a Druddigon.

Drayden was on the verge of winning, but Cheren wasn't giving up easily.

The sounds of cheering could be heard from the arena.

As the trio watched the battle unfold, they heard a voice calling out to Ryan.

They looked in the direction from where the voice came from.

It was Roxie, standing at the entrance to the VIP section.

The trio went over to her.

"It's great to see you again, Ryan" The Virbank City gym leader said happily. "I've been hearing so many great things about your battles. I take it that you went to Driftveil City to challenge Clay, but he wasn't there, so you came here to see if you could find him."

"Precisely"

Roxie then noticed Ryan's friends.

"Who are you two?"

"Oh, these two are old friends of mine: Jason and Selina. Brendan and May needed to head back to the Hoenn Region on an urgent mission. I actually bumped into these guys on the way to Nimbasa City".

"Hi"

"Hello"

"Oh, okay. Cool. Hi guys. Hey, how would you guys like to watch the rest of the battle in the VIP hospitality box? There are a few people in there who would quite like to meet you".

"Sounds good to us".

"Alright then. Let's go!"

The group then headed up a group of stairs and towards the VIP box.

A security guard attempted to stop Ryan and his friends from entering, but Roxie reassured him that they were with her.

As they entered the box, they could easily see why there was heavy security.

Inside this hospitality box were gym leaders from all over the world, including the likes of Gardenia and Sabrina, spectating the battle in comfy recliner chairs whilst eating luxurious food.

At this point, Burgh, who had been eliminated in one of the earlier rounds of the tournament, noticed Ryan and his friends.

"Ah! Ryan! It's great to see you again. Congrats on beating Elesa" He said, getting out of his chair and shaking Ryan's hand.

This then attracted the attention of the other gym leaders, to which they then went over to meet Ryan and his friends.

"Oh hey guys! Fancy seeing you here!" Said Elesa.

"Clay, Skyla, Marlon, take a good look for this young trainer will be challenging all of you and Drayden very soon. Be warned, Ryan is one hell of a fighter" Roxie told the other gym leaders.

Ryan stared up at his next Gym Battle opponent: The massive, Stetson wearing leader of the Driftveil City Gym, Clay.

"So, yer the trainer people have been talkin' about, huh. I'm Clay. I'm the Gym Leader 'round these parts. Don't be expectin' no easy fight. I'm not called The Miner King for nothin'" Clay said to him.

"Miner King or not, my Pokémon and I are still going to be going all out. " replied Ryan confidently.

"Ooh! That's proper fighting talk. I like that." Skyla commented.

This particular comment made Ryan blush a little bit.

"Why don't you three take a seat?" Sabrina asked the trio. "We can watch the rest of the battle".

The three trainers then took three empty seats between Skyla and Gardenia and watched the match with the gym leaders.

Ryan had the virtue of getting the seat right next to Skyla.

Ryan soon found himself in conversation with the Mistralton City Gym Leader.

"So tell me about yourself, Ryan." Skyla said to him as they watched the battle. "When did you decided to take on the Unova League?"

"Well, I'd actually decided a few years ago that I'd like to try and take on the League. This mainly comes from watching so many League battles on the TV whilst growing up. However, I wasn't allowed to leave home as early as most young trainers, but I was allowed to have my first Pokémon before then, so I asked for a Squirtle on my 14th birthday and, well, the rest is pretty much history" Ryan said, indicating to Wartortle, who was sitting next to Ryan's seat, watching the battle.

"So why exactly weren't you allowed to leave home early?"

"Well, my parents feared that if I left when I was younger, I'd end up making quite a lot of bad mistakes on my journey, so they kept me at home to make sure that I the chance of making a terrible adventure decision was minimal. To be perfectly honest, I thank them for doing that. In my opinion, I doubt I would've done this well if I started when I was younger."

He sighed.

"However, I definitely can't thank them for what they were planning to put me through".

"What were they planning?"

"Well, two years ago, I'd made an agreement with my parents to get married before I went out on my adventure, so as to secure my long term future. They set me up with a girl called Lucy. Now, to begin with, she was actually really sweet. However, once our wedding had been announced, she became more controlling and possessive of me. But worst of all, she wanted me to get rid of my Squirtle in favour of a Piplup. I tried to bargain with my parents, but they was nothing they could do. So, we opted to run away on the eve of the wedding and start our adventure early".

Skyla had a look of utter shock on her face.

"That's horrible! You poor thing. I don't blame you. If I was in your shoes, I would've run off as well".

The other gym leaders had heard and all nodded their heads in unison.

"Don't worry about me, Skyla" Ryan said reassuringly. "Ever since that night, I've never looked back. My friends and I have been travelling fast, winning one gym badge before quickly continuing on to the next battle, always knowing that Lucy and my parents are in hot pursuit of us. But you know what, I sincerely doubt that's going to stop me anytime soon. But enough about me. Tell me about yourself. What was your first Pokémon?"

"Well, the first Pokémon I ever remember encountering was a cute little Pidgey that my dad picked up on his travels in the Kanto Region. I guess this is what ignited my interest in Flying Type Pokémon. The first Pokémon I ever actually got was a Ducklett, which I still battle with at the gym as a fully evolved Swanna. I have a huge amount of trust for my Pokémon as they do for me, but I've always had the best relationship with Swanna".

"I don't find that surprising. I heard that trainers that have a great relationship with their Pokémon often have the best relationship with their first one".

"Yeah. But still, It can still get quite lonely working at the Mistralton Gym. I've never had many chances to go places and meet people. That's the unfortunate burden of being a gym leader, I suppose. But still, I'm hoping to retire from being a gym leader eventually. Perhaps I'll settle down with someone and have a kid who can pick up where I left off".

"Sure. Do whatever you want to do. Just make sure you end up with the right guy. Speaking of which, what kind of guy would float your boat?"

"Well, I honestly don't know. Perhaps someone like you, Ryan".

Ryan began blushing again.

"Is she coming on to me?" He thought to himself.

As they continued chatting, Ryan found himself getting lost in Skyla's bright blue eyes.

Every once in a while, they'd stop their conversation to continue watching the battle. However, during some of these moments, Ryan would soon find himself peering over at Skyla. His eyes would then trail down from her beautiful face and along her alluring figure.

If he thought Lucy was pretty, then Skyla was the best damn thing he'd ever seen.

He soon found himself blushing again.

On the battlefield below, Cheren's Stoutland was still fighting hard against Drayden's Druddigon.

"**Now, Stoutland! Use Wild Charge!**"

The Stoutland then began charging towards the Druddigon, surrounding itself with electricity.

"**Druddigon! Finish this with Sucker Punch!**"

Druddigon then launched a powerful Sucker Punch attack, striking Stoutland hard across the face and intercepting the Wild Charge attack.

This proved more than enough to knock it out.

"Stoutland is unable to battle" The Referee called out. "Druddigon wins, which means the victor is Drayden!"

As the crowd began clapping and cheering, Cheren and Drayden returned their Pokémon to their balls and shook hands with each other in the middle of the field.

"And now, the Unova Champion will present Drayden, the tournament winner, with his trophy" Declared the announcer.

On cue, Nate, the reigning Unova League Champion stepped out of a seat in the front row and walked onto the battlefield, carrying a large trophy.

As Nate handed the trophy to Drayden, shaking his hand, the cheering of the crowd became even louder.

* * *

The trio of trainers soon found themselves standing in the stadium's main atrium, with the large group of Gym leaders, waiting to congratulate the two combatents.

As they stepped out of the main stadium and into the atrium, the other gym leaders then encircled the two, congratulating them on the great battle they just had.

Cheren then recognised Ryan.

"Oh hey, Ryan!" He said, shaking his hand "It's felt like ages since I last saw you. I've been hearing great things about your journey, so I had to see how you were doing".

He then noticed Jason and Selina.

"Ah. I see Brendan and May headed back to the Hoenn Region"

"They did indeed. These guys are my old friends. Jason and Selina".

Drayden then walked up to the group.

"Drayden, these are Ryan, Jason and Selina".

"Mr Drayden, it's an honour to meet you" Ryan said, holding his hand out for Drayden to shake.

"Likewise, young trainer" The burly mayor of Opelucid City replied, shaking Ryan's hand and almost crushing it with his vice like grip.

"Er. N-nice grip" Ryan whimpered, nursing his hand.

"Now then, ah believe you were wanted to challenge yours truly" Clay said to Ryan.

"Oh yes. I did"

"Well, what are y'all waiting for? Are we battlin' or not?"

"Yes. Yes we are".

"Alrighty then. In that case, we'd better be heading back to Driftveil City"

"Hey, how about we come to watch as well?" Cheren asked the other gym leaders. "It's probably been a while since we've seen another gym leader do battle with a challenger. Besides, he'll be challenging some of us very soon, so it'll allow us to see how he battles".

The Gym leaders agreed to this.

"Did someone say battle?" Said a voice from afar.

They group looked in the direction of the voice.

Nate was standing before them.

He then noticed Ryan and walked up to him.

Ryan's face was one of utter shock and awe. Right here, right now, the Unova Region Champion was standing before him.

"So, you're that Ryan kid that I've heard good things about" Nate said, holding out his hand.

Ryan, still in shock, shook his hand.

"Good sir, let me just say that it's a great honour to meet you" Ryan eventually brought himself to say. "By the way, these guys are my friends, Jason and Selina"

Ryan motioned to his friends.

"Ah! Hello there". Nate said to Ryan's friends, shaking their hands.

"Hi!"

"Hello".

"Anyway, we were actually just about to head off back to the Driftveil City Gym, as Ryan was here to battle Clay" Cheren said to Nate.

Nate sighed happily.

"God, it feels like only yesterday that I was challenging Clay. How about I come with? Besides, I'm expecting Ryan to be at the Unova League soon, so I'd better see how he battles".

Ryan was amazed. The Unova League Champion wanted to see _him_ battle.

"Sure. Go ahead" Clay said to the Champion.

"Alright then. Let's go!"

The large group of trainers then left the World tournament Stadium and headed off back to Driftveil City.

* * *

It wasn't too long before the group were deep within the mines of the Driftveil City Gym, waiting for the battle to commence.

Ryan and his Wartortle were stood at one end of the battlefield that was sketched into the rock, whilst Clay stood at the other end, with one of the miners acting as referee for the match.

"Okay, I'm ready" Ryan said to Clay.

"Alrighty then" The Gym Leader replied, producing a pokeball "**Krokorok! Go!**"

Ryan looked down at Wartortle.

"Go for it, buddy"

"Tortle!" The turtle pokemon replied happily, running on to the other end of the field.

"Okay, Wartortle, I'm going to hang back and let you decide how this battle plays out" Ryan said to Wartortle. "Since his pokemon are all Ground Type, they'll be weak against Water Type, so you'll have the advantage. Just try and win this thing".

Wartortle nodded.

"**Alright Krokorok! Use Crunch!**"

Krokorok then launched itself at Wartortle, teeth fully bared.

Wartortle, anticipating an attack like this, leapt into the air before landing a powerful Aqua Tail attack in the back of Krokorok's head, dealing massive damage.

Whilst this wasn't enough to knock Krokorok out, the following Water Gun attack from Wartortle was.

"Krokorok is unable to battle. Wartortle wins!" Declared the miner.

"Yes! Great job so far, Wartortle!" Ryan said to his partner.

"Well, that was quicker than expected" commented Marlon.

"Yes, but it's only Clay's first pokemon" Added Drayden. "Wait until he gets to Excadrill".

Clay withdrew his Krokorok.

"You did good, partner. Take a nice long rest" He said before taking out his second pokeball.

"Well, you did well against Krokorok, but lets just see how well you do against my next pokemon" He said to Ryan "**Go! Sandslash!**"

"Okay, same as before. Just remember to avoid the spines" Ryan said to his friend.

"**Sandslash! Crush Claw!**"

Sandslash rushed Wartortle, with its claws glowing white.

Wartortle responded to this by dodging out of the way.

Each time Sandslash attacked with its claws, Wartortle dodged out of the way. In fact, this continued until Sandslash finally managed to land a hit on it.

Whilst this did sent Wartortle flying into the air, it managed to balance itself out and land on its feet, before responding with a Water Pulse attack.

Just as Wartortle did when Sandslash first attacked, Sandslash dodged out of the way of the attack.

Each time Wartortle launched a Water Pulse, Sandslash leapt out of the way.

However, on the fourth time Sandslash dodged away from a Water Pulse, Wartortle caught it off guard with a sudden Water Gun attack, dealing a massive amount of damage to it.

Wartortle then finished things off by landing an Aqua Tail attack, sending Sandslash flying into a nearby stalagmite, knocking it out.

"Sandslash is unable to battle. Wartortle wins again!" The miner declared.

The spectators greeted with news by applauding Ryan and Wartortle.

"Great job once again, buddy" Ryan said happily to his friend.

"You did as good as you could, Sandslash. Take a break" Clay said to the fainted Sandslash as he returned it to its pokeball.

He then produced his third and final pokeball.

"I've saved the best for last. **Excadrill! Go!**"

"Okay, go harder than before. This is his strongest pokemon" Ryan said to Wartortle.

"**Excadrill! Use Rock Slide!**"

As rocks began falling out of the ceiling, caused by Excadrill releasing a white energy, Wartortle quickly rolled out of the way, before launching a Water Gun in retaliation.

Excadrill tried again, but the outcome was the same.

Wartortle then began charging towards the Excadrill.

Excadrill lunged at Wartortle with a powerful Slash attack, but Wartortle simply flipped into the air, leaving Excadrill wide open.

Then, Wartortle launched another Water Pulse, striking Excadrill on the head and causing massive damage. Wartortle then struck Excadrill on the head again, this time with an Aqua Tail attack, before landing right in front of it. For a short while, Excadrill stood motionless, before finally crashing to the ground, unconscious.

"Excadrill is unable to battle. Wartortle wins again, which means the victor is the challenger: Ryan!"

This was greeted by the sounds of cheering and applause from the audience.

"Yes! Amazing job Wartortle! You did it!" Ryan called out, elated.

"Tortle Tortle!" Replied Wartortle as he rushed up to Ryan and the two embraced.

Clay withdrew Excadrill into its ball and approached the pair.

"Well. So that's what all the hubbub was about, then. Seems they were right about you"

Clay reached into his pocket and pulled out a Quake Badge.

"As the Driftveil City Gym Leader, it's mah honour to give you yer own Quake Badge".

"Sweet! Thanks Clay!" Ryan replied, pocketing the badge and shaking Clay's hand.

Jason, Selina and the others then came onto the battlefield and began congratulating Ryan on his victory.

"Okay, now that was brilliant!" Cheren told him "You were good when you fought me, but what just happened was amazing. That may have been the quickest anyone has ever beaten Clay. It seems that you've raised your Wartortle exceptionally".

"I agree with Cheren" Nate added. "Hell, not even I beat Clay that fast. You made it all look so easy".

"Now then, I guess the next thing for you to do would be to head on up to Mistralton City to challenge Skyla" Burgh interjected.

"Yes. I'll definitely do that very soon" Ryan replied.

Nate pondered for a moment.

"Say, Ryan, I was just wondering, have you heard of the Driftveil Tournament?" He asked.

"I'm aware of it"

"Well, since the tournament is taking place tomorrow, why don't you sign up? It'll allow you to gain some vital experience ahead of your next Gym Battle".

Ryan thought about this for a moment.

"Sounds good to me"

"Hey, how about Jason and I enter as well?" Selina piped up. "We could just participate for the sheer hell of it".

"That sounds great"

* * *

As the evening drew in, the group found themselves stepping out of the pokemon centre to say their goodbyes.

"You've got a roaring fire of determination and spirit, young Ryan" Drayden said to him. "It would be a great pleasure to battle against you in the near future".

"Same here, bro" Marlon added

"Don't worry. That will indeed happen" Ryan replied.

Just then, something pinched Ryan's butt, causing him to yelp in surprise.

It was Skyla.

"That was a great battle you had out there, Ryan" she said "I'll be waiting for your challenge when you arrive in Mistralton City".

She then leaned in until she was almost touching Ryan's left ear.

"And if you do brilliantly, you might get more than just a Gym Badge" She whispered seductively, gently giving a stroke to the other side of Ryan's head.

This caused him to begin blushing like mad.

Skyla giggled softly.

"You're so cute when you blush like that" She said. "Hey, good luck in the tournament tomorrow. See you!"

With that, she headed off along Route 6 with Drayden and Marlon, briefly stopping to give Ryan a cheeky wink.

Elesa chuckled, shaking her head.

"That Skyla. She's always had a certain way with men. Sometimes, she's even had more men fawning over her than I've had. Anyway I hope things go well for you three in the tournament tomorrow. See ya!"

She, Burgh, Roxie and Cheren then headed off towards the Driftveil Drawbridge, waving goodbye.

This only left Ryan, Jason, Selina, Wartortle and Nate, with Ryan still staring off in Skyla's direction, blushing madly.

"I think she likes you, Ryan" Jason said to him.

No reply.

"Uh, Ryan? Are you alright?" Asked Nate.

No reply.

"Ryan, you in there?" Selina asked, giving Ryan a small poke.

Still no reply.

Just then, Ryan then fell backwards onto the ground.

As the others looked down at him, he just laid there drooling like an idiot.

You could almost see the love hearts floating around his head.


End file.
